Team Future
by artificus
Summary: After 32 years in a cryostasis capsule, Violet Parr awakes in the Future. But while trying to get her old life back, a lot goes wrong. Contains Willet. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

At 8 miles altitude, nothing was perceived from the dark black clouds, which drew over the country that night. Up here, there were only stars, a weak glowing crescent moon, and liberty.

The formation of jets was now finally on the flight home after their training. They had throttled the speed to not disturb the population unnecessarily with the noise of their engines.

They were still about 15 minutes away from their base and Kevin, pilot-in-training, became nervous slowly. He hated the landing manoeuvre in the dark.

"Break a leg!" laughed his co-pilot, Ryan, behind him, who had a lot more experience.  
"You gotta come down somehow!" he laughingly added.

"Shut up, Ryan!" Kevin snapped, annoyed.

They began to descend. In the clouds, they were totally dependent on their instruments.

Blind flight.

"Hey Cap! The guy's chicken!" Ryan said to the Captain over the radio.

"Shut up Ryan!" the Captain repeated.

"Highest concentration now, folks! The clouds hang low, and chances are, it's raining. Once we get out from the clouds, we're not too far away from the runway. So you gotta respond quickly."

Great... landing in the dark and with a wet tarmac...

Kevin forced himself to stay calm. He would be home with Angelica and her young daughter in less than an hour.

They immersed into the cloud cover. A dark gray mass surrounded the jet. Optical range was zero.

Kevin focused on his instruments. The plane sank slowly but steadily, and the rate was constant. On the radar, he saw the other two jets, which flew in an unchanged distance further to his right.

"Three Fox call Tower, seek landing permission" he heard the captain.

Suddenly, the plane made a heavy leap, like a shying horse. The speed went down and suddenly they fell off way too fast!

As he had learned, Kevin moved the machine automatically upwards and increased the speed.  
Then he heard a laugh coming from his headset.

"Good reaction, buddy!"

"You stupid dumbass! I almost had a heart attack!"

"Kevin, Ryan, what's going on?" exclaimed the captain.

"I only wanted to scare lil' guy!"

"Goddammit, we're landing! I just need to wait for the confirmation of Tower! Pull yourself together!"

"Roger ..."

"Roger, Cap."

Kevin would certainly never fly an aircraft with this idiot again.

"Three Fox, call base. Seek landing permission ... Tower?"

Silence ...

"They must be on coffee break!" Ryan laughed.

"Shut up Ryan!" cried the captain and Kevin simultaneously.

"Here Three Fox, call Tower ... Seeking landing permission," the captain tried it again. But no answer came back.

After several more vain attempts the captain said,

"We still have enough fuel ... We soar again and circle ... If nothing changes we change cour- "

"... Captain ...?"

Kevin heard only hissing.

"Have you understood what he said? ... Ryan ...? "

Suddenly the jet was dark. The lighting and all the instruments turned out.

"Ryan! That's not funny! You've heard the cap! "

Kevin could not see the instruments, but felt that they drastically lost speed!

"Ryan!"

The engines and electronics were all off.  
Kevin clung to the control stick and stared into the gray mass in front of him.  
In the simulations, they had worked out engine failure and failure of the electronics, but never both at the same time!

Suddenly, the clouds disappeared and allowed the view of brightly lit streets: the ground ... way too close!

Kevin tore at control stick around, but the jet fell like a stone from the sky.  
He knew that he had to get out. They had often done this in their basic training. He had to blast the hatch away and to push the ejection seat button.

But there was not enough time.

Kevin's final thoughts in the few seconds before the crash were of his wife Angelica, his small daughter Melissa, and even his copilot Ryan, who would die with him.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Wednesday, 9:36 p.m.

A thump.

Vi startled from sleep and looked around breathlessly.

The apartment was dark, the TV off, the two children were fallen asleep while painting and lay now on the carpet and driveld all over their images.

Fortunately the children slept ...

Vi rubbed her eyes and annoyed that she fell asleep. Something like that shouldn't happen to a babysitter.

Suddenly again thump strokes at frontdoor.

The Parkers!

Vi jumped from the chair - not a good idea so soon after waking up. She felt dizzy and she hasty toddled to the door. On the way she threw a glance at the clock. It was only nine forty ... Actually, the Parkers wanted to come back at eleven or half past eleven...

Before Vi had reached the door, she already heard Mrs. Parker's nerve-racking nagging. How long were they probably already out there? And why didn't they simply rang the bell?

Vi had barely opened the door for a slit, Mrs. Parker stormed inside.

"Why haven't you answered the phone? We tried to call here for about 15 times! "

Vi was pale ... Fortunately, Mrs. Parker couldn't see that in the dark. She rang with herself whether she should admit that she had slept ... but that would have given hellish anger. So she preferred to remain silent.

"That's why we are back so early! I couldn't stand this unrest anymore! I thought anything had happened! Why are the lights off?!"

"Maybe a electric line is interrupted somewhere, dear..." her husband tried to appease her. But she ignored him intentionally and continued her grumbling.

"Why is it so dark? If someone's hurt…"

"I, erm ..." Vi began to justify somehow.

"Where are my babies?!" cried Mrs. Parker, excessively worried.

"The fuse has blown out..." said Mr. Parker, after he had pressed the light switch in the hallway a few times.

"Well, something like that doesn't happen by itself," grumped Mrs. Parker, throwing a dismissive glance at Vi. She took the children, who were awakened by the noise, and brought them upstairs.

"Instead of let them sleeping here on the floor, you should've send them to bed! Hopefully they haven't caught a cold!"

Slowly, her tone became very aggressive.

"Excuse me, Ma'am…" said Vi meekly. She had deserved a rubdown, actually, she had fallen asleep.

"Why doesn't the damned light work?" cried Mrs. Parker in the staircase as she pressed a light switch.

"The fuse is out," said her husband again. Then he turned to Violet.  
"It looks pretty like rain out there ... I think I better drive you home ..."

"Thank you, Mr. Parker ..."

Violet could see in the dark that he smiled. And again she asked herself; how could such a tyrant like Mrs. Parker come to be with such a nice man, and how could he hold out with this witch. Vi honestly had no idea.

"You can't let us sit here in the dark!" cried Mrs. Parker from the top, then she strided down the stairs like a cruel Ice Queen.

"You won't go before the fuse is replaced ..."

"Well, it takes a few minutes ..." said Mr. Parker to Vi, before heading down into the cellar.

And so Violet and Mrs. Parker stood alone in the hallway.

Mrs. Parker stared, angry at Violet. Vi remained silent. Now the very unpleasant part came. She had to ask the witch of North for her money. Fortunately, the witch took this task from her.

"Well, how much is it?" she asked, in the most unfriendly tone she had to offer.

"Erm, from 7 to 10 is 3 hours, so -"

"One moment! If I'm not mistaken, it isn't 10 o'clock yet!"

Mrs. Parker opened her purse and counted the money meticulously accurate, although she knew very well that Violet was paid after full hours. But Violet didn't complain. Had Mrs. Parker known or the possibility to prove that Violet had slept, then she would haven't get anything - neither money, nor a babysitting job ever again in this city.

When she was finished she handed Vi two notes and a pile of coins and continued to stare at her angrily.

This made Violet decide that she would put up with the rain rather than staying any longer in the same room with this witch until Mr. Parker would be ready.

"I'm off then... could you tell Mr Parker-"

"Yes, yes, get home safely!" interrupted Mrs. Parker, clearly not meaning the sentiment while she lay a hand on Vi's shoulder and pushed her over the threshold and banged the door behind her.

Vi stared at the closed door. Then she took in the dark house, whose windows stared like lifeless black eyes into the distance. It was scary - a real witch's house ... the only thing missing was the fact that it wasn't made out of gingerbread.

She tried to focus on a nicer thought. On Saturday, she would be going to the movies with Tony. A cosy warmth spread within her. That was a very good thought.

But when Vi turned around and went to her bike, her mood became worse again. The clouds were black and hung heavily over the country, they were moving fast though. Again and again the clouds glowed from the inside when thunderbolts flashed through them, but there was no thunder to hear yet. Mr. Parker had understated. It looked not like just rain, but rather, a storm!

"Great ..."

Violet threw a last glance at the Parker's house. The lights were still out; apparently Mr. Parker still hadn't found the fuse box in the dark...

She rejected the idea to knock once more and ask if she could be driven home.

If she took the shortcut and had luck, she could make it at home, before it began to storm.

She got on her blue-pink bike and drove off exasperated. The air seemed electrified, so that one nearly felt the tension the thunderstorm clouds enclosed.

It was gloomy. The street lights were not on yet, which wasn't unusual during the summer in this region.

She left the main road to turn off in an even darker quarter in which there were no streetlights at all.

The commercial and industrial area of the town was deserted at night.

For most people was only this desolation a reason to be frightened.  
"No one hears you scream there," was, for example, an argument not to stroll through the industrial park at night.

But Violet was not like most people. She had super powers, and therefore she saw no reason to fear here.

Finally, she saved about 15 minutes on her way home thanks to this short cut.

Her thoughts dealt with the stupid Mrs. Parker and the storm, which she wanted to espace as quickly as possible.

It lightened now more and more often, but nevertheless there was still no thunder to hear. It was completly silent.

Suddenly it flashed exactly above Vi! In a few hundred meters altitude a white-green lightning winded through the sky. And still no thunder.

With shock Violet had slowed down and looked upwards. Shouldn't she hear thunder? And since when were flashes green?

Vi shrugged and drove on, already thinking about telling her geography teacher about this phenomenon the next day.

Another green flash was chased from the clouds down, and struck a few hundred meters away into a building.

Violet got scared. The area was flat and there were few trees and power poles that could attract the flashes. She doubted that her force field could shield her from a lightning strike.

Suddenly, a flash stroked into the same building. And another one.

Vi slowed down and stared into the darkness to recognize something. She had only recognized the building because flashes had drenched it into a green light.

Lightning wasn't supposed to strike in the same place twice, but three times?  
As she thought this, two more bolts struck the building.

She wanted to continue driving home, but the curiosity overcame the fear of being killed by a lightning.

So, she slowly drove in the direction of the building…


	3. Chapter 2

Violet peeked out from behind a hedge, where she had hidden her bicycle.

The building which flashes struck more and more had a large yellow "C", but there was no lighting to make it possible to read the full company's name.

Green-black clouds rotated above the building, like a miserably slow hurricane.  
That wasn't normal.

Vi, who fortunately wore her superhero suit underneath her normal clothes, activated the communicator with a pressure on the point of the "i", which also contained the tracking device.

"Mom, Dad! Here is Vi! Something strange is happening where I am!"

Normally her parents responded immediately to her, or at least one of them, but now she got no answer.

"Mom! Dad! Dash? ... I'm in the business park! Something's happening here!"

Suddenly, she heard something that sounded like a hydraulic press. Violet hid behind the hedge again.

At once the roof of the building opened. A giant laser cannon was lifted upwards from the interior, the rear part of which glowed a sinister green.

Vi swallowed nervously.

"Mom! Dad! Dash! Anyone! There's a 30-meter-long laser cannon right in front of me! Somebody please answer!"

But nobody answered.

Vi was inwardly torn. Either go home as soon as possible and get the others - but then it might be already too late - or go alone ... this thing would certainly not go unnoticed for a long time... the others would surely come later...

"Okay Vi, don't panic, you can do this…you can do this... Just think logically."

Violet conquered her initial fear and examined the building. There was a door, but it looked to be equipped with an alarm system. On the ground, she saw several surveillance cameras, whose red light indicating that they were turned on. There were no guards in sight.

She breathed deeply a few times through, as though she was about to jump into cold water. Then, she pulled her pants and sweater off her, revealing her supersuit, and put the mask on. Then she passed the cameras invisible.

She ran around the building until she found a half-open window. Her heart raced.

She squeezed through it a little clumsily and found herself in the men's room.

She wanted to stop for a few moments and regain her stride, but suddenly she heard steps. She hoped they would pass by her, but no.

A strong-built man with a kind of futuristic uniform entered. Violet became frightened, although she was invisible and had nothing to fear. The man was armed, so there were guards within the building. That wouldn't make things any easier.

Slowly, quietly, anxiously, Violet began moving towards the door, which was still open a crack.

The man leant his rifle against the wall and turned to an urinal.

Vi was completely invisible; she would not be seen. She didn't avert her eyes from the guard, but suddenly, she rammed into a trash can, and fell over.

The man turned and looked right at her.

Violet thought that this was the end. That she was beaten.

But then the guy shrugged and turned back again.

Violet, having learned her lesson with the trash can, gently pushed the door open.

Outside, she stood on a long corridor of red and yellow lights. She had no idea which way she needed to go.

While she still pondered what direction she should go, suddenly, the guard came out and she was almost knocked over. It seemed the guy had somewhere to go in a hurry.

Vi shrugged and ran after him.

From inside, the building looked rather ordinary. They passed some offices and conference halls. Slowly, Vi believed that she had went into the wrong building.

They reached an inconspicuous door that looked just like any other door here, with the difference that the guard had to open it with a key card. Behind it was a small room with a large metal sliding door.

Once the guard passed the unobtrusive door, itclosed fully automatic. Violet sliped through it just in time.

The guard used a different key card for the metal door, and Violet became slowly restless. And then it hit her: you had to have something to hide if you made it necessary to have two separate key cards to get into somewhere.

The door hissed open...

Now Violet was convinced that it was not a normal building.

Behind the door ran a multi-storey deep hole into the depths. And several floors up was the laser gun.  
Perhaps it was something too big for her alone.

"No. 16, where are you been? "

Another man came to the sentry.

"Erm - escape, Sir!"

"Damn! The launch sequence's started! All men are to remain at their posts, understood? "

"Yes, Sir!"

"Then get back to work!"

The supervisor pulled the guard into a mesh cage.

The mesh cage began to descend, revealing itself to be an elevator.

Violet held on to one of the bars of the elevator and hoped not to be discovered.

When they arrived below, she immediately found cover in the surrounding area.

They were at least 20 floors below the ground. There were equipment everywhere, and machines with blinking lights and displays.

Violet ventured a little further out.

In the middle of the underground area was a kind of pedestal with a large podium established. This podium was in front of an immense flickering screen, which showed a nearly filled energy status, most likely for the laser gun.

"Energy Status: 91 percent," a computer beside the vault announced.

Violet crept past several sentinels who watched the surveillance screens. The men seemed tense and looked nervous, but concentrated between the surveillance screens and displays of energy back and forth. That's why none of them noticed when Violet took one of the key cards.

"95 percent ..."

Violet apparently had not much time.

A masked man with a yellow Cape and black suit with a yellow C emblazoned on his chest entered the podium.

"Have you adjusted the weapon?" he called his assistants on a radio, who were suspended above the gun, working on it.

"Not quite, Sir! It's really uncomfortable up here..."

The masked man rolled his eyes.

"Humans..." he muttered.

"Energy Status: 98 percent"

The masked man then pushed one of the buttons and the screen above the podium changed the picture.

Showing the president of the United States.

"Hello, Mr. President."

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?"

"Ah, so, right down to business? Very well, I suppose I should introduce myself... I am known as Cobra."

"The U.S. Government does not negotiate with terrorists like you, Mr. Cobra!"

"Oh, I do not wish to terrorize anyone ... I want offer you a business proposal. I have an extremely deadly laser weapon. It is loaded and ready to fire. From here, I can destroy any major metropolitan city in the US that I so choose. Are you familiar with nuclear physics, Mr. President? The crystal is filled with energy. It will be discharged. The only question is when and where..."

Energy Crystal? Violet looked upwards and saw more greenish, flickering light flashing.

She had an idea.

The elevator began to move downwards.

Then Violet had a chance. She stayed on the counter-weights of the lift and could move upwards.

"Energy Status: 99 percent"

"What do you want?"

The President had become pale.

"$25 billion to a Swiss bank account. We let them just send the data ... "

"$25 billion? That exceeds our budget!"

"If it is not done within the next 10 minutes, your budget will no longer be an issue!"

Violet arrived at the top level. The laser gun was placed on a scaffold. The clouds rotated faster, the wind refreshing. The last assistant had left the zone. She felt quite close to the cannon, the bolts seemed to be directed only to the crystal.

In the rear part of the cannon was the green crystal. Flashes and loud twitched as if could hardly wait to unload.

If Vi was correct, the energy of the crystal was bundled in the gun and a concentrated laser beam was fired.

Once again, she tried to contact her family, but she was still unheard.

So she had to continue on her own.

"You're bluffing," cried the President.

"Are you sure?"

Cobra turned and began to press a few buttons.

"Energy Status: ... 100 percent! Weapon ready!"

"What are you doing there?"

"I've never particularly liked Washington..." he said spitefully, "Farewell, Mr. President…"

"No! No, wait!"

But Cobra ignored him and moved away from the screen and pressed a red button.

In the same moment so more bolts struck into the crystal, and the cannon began to move in a certain direction.

As the cannon began to move, Violet generated a force field around the crystal from a few meters away.

Contact with the energy lines of the gun was suddenly interrupted, and there was a feedback effect, causing the cannon to explode.

Through the force field, Violet was protected, but the scaffolding broke away under her feet and she plunged downwards.

~*~*~

"What is going on up there?" cried Cobra, furious.

It took a second until he and his men noticed that the cannon, together with the scaffolding, were threatening to fall down on them.

As soon as someone cried "Let's get out of here!", they began to flee.

Thunderously and rattling trailing steel ropes, metal beams and debris, several hundred tons of steel crashed to the ground and smashed the control desk.

"No! NO!" Cobra roared as the dust died away and the full extent of the destruction became obvious.

"How could this - why is – Everything was perfectly planned! Down to the last detail! Why…"

At this moment Violet struggled to her feet. Thanks to her force field, she remained unhurt. Nevertheless, she was frozen in shock after the fall, and could only focus on not starting to cry.

As she rose, she thought that she had made sure she was invisible.

"Invisigirl!"

Violet spun around and looked at Cobras hate distorted face. Then, she looked down and saw that she was covered in dust, rendering her visible to everyone.

"Get her! Kill her! Fire!"

The men, who were also still in shock after this incident, didn't fire immediately. Violet tried to wipe the dust away as much as possible and ran in the direction of the lift.  
Shots slammed against the metal beams and debris around her.

Violet jumped behind a pile of rubble and covered there.

"Don't panic! Don't panic! Logical thinking! What's the quickest way to get out of here?"

Her hope to get out using one of the lifts was shattered. The debris from the falling weapon had destroyed the two lifts.

But on the other side she discovered an open door on the next floor. Weak green light fell through it.

Apparently some of the agents had fled already.

"Have we caught her?"

"No, you idiots! She's still here! Make sure that she won't come out here alive!" shouted Cobra and stumped through the debris field as if he was looking for something ...

"The crystal!" Violet's mind cried out.  
Suddenly there was an explosion far above them! The ground began to shake and stones and wreckage fell cracking from the top down to the ground.

"This dump's gonna collapse!"

"Let's get outta here! Run! "

"You cowards!"

But the guards simply knocked Cobra over and ran out. Their fear of death was greater than their fear of him. They climbed the ladders hastily to the next floor and fled through the open door.

"You will pay for this!"

Violet also ran, now that no one seemed interested in her anymore. If she had to climb 20 storeys before the building collapsed, she had to hurry!

She ran off, but she paused.

Cobra crouched on the ground and dug with his hands in the rubble. Didn't he care when he was buried alive down here?

Suddenly Vi discovered something bright green in the rubble. The crystal!  
Unfortunately, it was the same moment that Cobra noticed Violet.

They stared at one another, then at the crystal, then at themselves again. Suddenly, Cobra made a jump forward, but the Violet kicked the crystal away like a football. He grabbed her wrist, she gave him a fist to his nose, and he gave her a slap in the face. Violet then delivered a sharp kick between his legs. Cobra gasped and released her.

The earth trembled, the building was about to collapse.

Violet ran away, snapped the crystal and wanted to go back to the door. But when she turned Cobra was already close behind her.

She ran the next-best ladder and climbed up hastily. Cobra, however, was faster, grabbing her foot and tried to tear her down.

Violet somehow managed to keep her grip and to kick him with the heel of her other boot into his face. Cobra cried out loud from pain and let her go one more time.

She ran on shaky grid ground – Cobra directly behind her!

The rooms were illuminated in blood-red emergency lights, the tubes and wires couldn't stand the dynamics which has possession the complex. Everywhere, pipes busted and exploded, steam and sparks filling the corridors. Violet could hardly see where she ran; she only prayed that she found a staircase that led upwards.

A pipe burst just beside her head, she jumped reflexively aside. In the same moment, Cobra grabbed her arm. She tore herself jerkily off but lost her balance.

She fell backward against something and looked into Cobras horrified, bloody face.

Then cold ...

... And darkness.

~*~*~

"No! No! This can't be happening!" Cobra hammered with all his power against the cryostasis capsule in which Invisigirl had fallen. He tore at the door, even though he knew exactly that it couldn't be reopened so easily. After all, he had developed it.

He hammered against the small viewing window, enraged, and focused his whole hatred on Invisigirl, who had foiled his plans twice today! She had the crystal and his capsule!

The building was gripped by a violent vibration.

He had to go ... or he would die here.

One last time he looked through the viewing window into the young masked face.

"We'll meet again, Invisigirl!" he said hatefully.

And, just like that, he was gone.

The building collapsed a few moments later and buried Violet deep beneath it.


	4. Chapter 3

32 years later.

The dinner at Robinsons went as usual. Nobody, least of all Wilbur Robinson, would have thought that after this dinner everything would change.

After a extensive tortilla battle Wilbur was placed in a headlock by his Uncle Art.

"This is how I got the leader of the rebels on Proteus 1 to pay his bill!"

A phone rang somewhere.

"That'll be for me!" cried Thallula.

"No! For me!" cried Aunt Petunia.

"I'll answer," said Wilbur's mother, Franny, as she stood up.

She went to the phone and, shortly after, called over her husband, Cornelius.

"It's the company," she said and handed him the phone.

"What do they want at this time?" he asked puzzled.

"They say it's important ..."

Franny returned to the big dining table and the other family members, who continued their activities undetered.

Only when Cornelius returned with a hounded expression in his face and said good bye, did the family realise that this probably wouldn't be a normal evening.

"I have to go to the office again..." he said as he hastily put on his jacket.

"Has something happened?" asked Aunt Benny.

Cornelius stopped and looked into the round. His attitude was tense.

"We'll see..." he said, and left the room.

"I call if I'm gonna be late!" he called back.

"Well, okay ..." said Franny, puzzled.

The others looked at each other. They all had seen his worried face - a rare sight, making the situation even more strange.

Wilbur, still in his uncle's headlock, remained oblivious to this whole spectacle.

"What happened after that?" he asked his uncle, breaking the silence.

"What? Oh the… well, that was so - "

"It's bedtime Wilbur..." he heard the toneless voice of his mother. Art released him.

His mother was pale and looked somehow lost in thought, her gaze on the door that Cornelius had just left through.

"But Mom ..!"

She turned her head and fixed him with a stern gaze. The gaze that didn't tolerate any protest. Wilbur rolled his eyes.

"Okay ... night, everyone ..." he said wearily and shuffled out of the room.

Wilbur was still awake under his blanket well after midnight, armed with a flashlight, reading comics. He thought that if his mother found out, he would certainly get punished. What he didn't know was that his mother had found out long ago about his nocturnal excursions into the comic world; coming across him in the morning, snuggling his flashlight and sleeping on the comics.

However, as he became slowly overwhelmed by the tiredness and he shut off the flashlight, he heard the front door outside.

His father was back.

Wilbur would ask him tomorrow what he had to go to so late... maybe a new invention? While he mulled over ideas about what his father had invented next (sweets that you could eat as much as you wanted and not get bad teeth; or maybe a knowledge-radiator, which directly implanted knowledge into the brain and you would never ever go to school again), he drifted off into a deep sleep.

But the next day, Wilbur couldn't see his father. All throughout the next few days, he spent all of his time in his lab. Apparently this new invention was very important ...

Wilbur stood a little crestfallen in front of the door to the laboratory. At this hung a yellow sign that strictly read "Do not disturb". From inside he heard the electrical sizzle and the hum of a welding torch.

Wilbur was proud of his father, but when he worked for days on one of his inventions and didn't speak to anyone, he sometimes wished for a normal father.

But this time, something was different. Normally Wilbur was allowed to assist him (if he wanted, which wasn't often the case) and Cornelius couldn't stop talking about his next project and the opportunities that it could open the mankind - but this time ...

this time he didn't even leave his lab for meals.

Furthermore, even his mother was behaving oddly. She was pale, especially in the morning; she looked terrible, as though she were sick. But she repeatedly assured everyone that there was nothing wrong and that she was just fine...

Was it because she cared so much about Cornelius? She was the only one who had seen him these past few days, when she brought his food up to him.

All this kept bothering Wilbur.

Five days after the eventful evening, he found his mother in her music room, where she sat on her piano and was highly concentrated on writing a new song.

Wilbur opened the door and strolled self-righteously into the room.

"What is it that dad's inventing?" he asked casually, as if he hadn't spent the last five days wondering that very question.

"I don't know, Wilbur," replied Franny briefly. She played a short melody, and then corrected a few notes.

"He's been up there for days," Wilbur noted offhandedly.

"Yes."

Wilbur slumped against the piano.

"So what's he building?" he asked, as politely as he could.

"I have no idea," replied his mother tensely.

"It's definitely a machine, but what's it for?"

"Wilbur, I don't know!" answered Franny, irritated, throwing an annoyed look at him.

"It's gotta be something that'll improve lives!" said Laszlo through the open door as he flew by. Shortly after him came Carl, who was hoovering the floor.

"Tze! And who improves my life? "He complained.

The sudden rush and noise of the hoover were the last straw.

Franny gave her son a look that was almost sinister. He had rarely, no; he had never seen his mother like this.

"Close the door when you go out!"

That sounded almost like a threat.

Wilbur abided and left the music room.

"Someone's had a bad day..." he muttered when he was out.

The other family members' attempts to gain information about Cornelius' project were just as fruitless.

None of them knew what Cornelius worked out, but each of them had their own ideas. Aunt Petunia though that it was an eggbeater with integrated television, but as his uncle Fritz wanted to point out that such a beater already existed, she acted insulted and drove away. Thallula was convinced that it had something to do with fashion, such as a device that automatically recognized the mental mood and put out the matching outfit. Lazlo disagreed with everything his sister said, and gave her a new paint coating.

Aunt Billie hoped that it was a shrink machine, so that she could take all her trains with her.

But, at the end, there were more questions than answers ...

However, when Wilbur told them that his mother was in an extraordinarily bad mood, they grinned and exchanged knowing glances.

"What? Do you know what's happened that's made her so grumpy?"

"Well, none of us can not definitely say," grinned Uncle Gaston.

"You'll find out soon enough," said Uncle Art, patting him on the shoulder.

"Find out what?" asked Wilbur confused.

The others laughed, as though it were a joke that everybody understood except him.

Adults were strange ...

Wilbur couldn't stand this.

He wanted to find out what was going on.

Something big was happening.


	5. Chapter 4

Two days later, Wilbur's father finally left the laboratory. He looked exhausted and still had a haggard appearance. He had grown a three-day beard, and his hair was completely messed up. On his lab coat were numerous patches of oil and hydraulic fluid. He was drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

"Are you done with your invention?" Wilbur inquired, getting ready to have breakfast.

Cornelius only gave a sullen mumble and shook his head.

"When you see your mother, tell her I'm in the office ..." he said with a yawn.

"Sure."

Now was Wilbur's chance!

While Cornelius was in the shower, Wilbur ran into his room and grabbed his backpack. On the way back, he went into his parents' bedroom, where his mother had spent the last few nights alone. He knocked on the door and peered inside.

Franny sat in a chair, dressed in a nightgown, holding her hand to her forehead. She was as pale as a sheet and her eyes were closed.

She didn't seem to notice him.

"Erm ... Mom? Are you alright?"

When he saw her, Wilbur was suddenly very worried and considered dropping his actual plan.

"Shall I bring you anything? Do you need something? "

"No, my dear ... It's okay ... but thanks for asking..." she said with a weak voice and smiled.

"I can stay here and take care of you..."

"And drop out of school? You would like that, wouldn't you, Little One?"

Little One... She hadn't called him that in a while...

"Don't worry, your grandparents and Carl are both here ... They'll take care of me ..."

"Well ..." Wilbur started to leave, but then remembered, "Oh, Dad wanted me to tell you that he is out on business."

"Oh ... thank you, dear."

"Bye, Mom!"

Hopefully, he wasn't too late. He ran along the corridors until he found a transport tube, which brought him to the garage. Once there, he climbed into back seat of Cornelius' car and waited.

As he heard his father coming through the tubes, he hid, hoping that he wouldn't be discovered.

Cornelius went in and started the car without even noticing the stowaway. At the push of a button the garage door opened. They drove down the driveway a few yards, until Cornelius pressed yet another button and the car suddenly left the ground and floated through the air.

When they were quite a distance from their home, Wilbur realized that his father wouldn't waste time to take him back if he was discovered, so he decided to blow his cover.

"Good morning!"

Cornelius was shocked. The flying car swerved briefly, before Cornelius regained control of the vehicle and pulled it aside.

"Wilbur! What the heck are you doing here? Couldn't you have said something sooner? "

"Sorry ..." Wilbur said casually, climbing into the passenger seat.

"At least I'm awake now..." Cornelius said, no longer appearing bewildered.

"I wanted to ask you whether or not you can drive me to school ..."

Cornelius made a face and snorted.

"I'm in a hurry."

"I'm not ..." Wilbur admitted.

Cornelius laughed. Just at that moment, Wilbur noticed that they were not on the way to his father's office at Robinson Industries Headquarters...

"Okay. Right now, I have to handle something ... it won't take long."

"Take all the time you need," Wilbur grinned, folded his arms behind his head and leaned back.

But Cornelius' amusement didn't last for long. His expression changed into a worried gaze.

"Dad, what are you working on right now?"

"I... can't tell you..."

Wilbur didn't understand this comment, but if he had seen his father's tense expression (instead of looking out the window), then he probably would have preferred to hold his tongue.

"But you've got to know what you are inventing," he laughed.

Cornelius remained silent.

"Where are we going?" Wilbur asked hesitantly after a while.

Instead of answering, Cornelius shifted gears, and the car landed back on the road. After a few yards, they turned into an area of a construction sites.

Wilbur remembered that he had been here a few weeks ago to celebrate a ground-breaking ceremony. This was where a new building complex of the Robinson Group would emerge. They couldn't use an instant building, because this factory had some specific requirements that Wilbur didn't know about. A large skeleton of steel girders already stretched 4 floors high.

The car drove onto the site, raising up some dust. His father opened the door and got out.

"You wait here. I'll be right back."

Before Wilbur could even respond, his father slammed the door in his face.

Cornelius's arrival seemed to be anticipated by a group of scientists in white lab coats. Together they went into the unfinished building.

"Great ..."

Now Wilbur had to wait alone in the car without his comics or someone to talk to. In addition, he still found out nothing about the new invention. He hated to admit it, but now he would rather be in school.

Out of boredom, he began to watch the lively hustle and bustle out on the site...

... and he was taken aback.

Despite the fact that there was a brisk bustle on this site, remarkably little was built. Not a single building-robot was in sight, the cranes and excavators were vacant and marked with a sign which read: "Out Of Order".

People with lab coats and protective suits ran around, along with the scientists who were waiting for his father...

What did these scientists, plus his father, do that early in the morning in an empty construction site?

What was going on here?

This place was starting to seem weird for Wilbur, but on the other hand, his juvenile adventuresomeness was starting to get the better of him.

He knew he should wait in the car, but since there was no building work going on anyway and no signs that said "Parents Are Responsible For Their Children", it wouldn't be so bad if he left the car for a few minutes...

Wilbur rose carefully from the car, taking care not to be seen by anyone.

He took great pleasure in staying "invisible" by moving with his quick karate flips and rolls from one place to another.

He was on the run from his enemies, the Shmorks (villians from his favorite comic, Captain Future) and the boxes, steel beams, bags and piles of rubble served as good hiding places.

He was almost discovered a few times, but he was just too quick!

After a few minutes, it was time to return to the car again. Wilbur stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes. After all of his karate moves, he was a little disoriented. When he saw his car nowhere, he turned around --

"What the -!"

Directly in front of him extended a huge, incredibly deep pit!

Wilbur went a bit closer and bent forward. Somewhere below him some workers were welding and the sparks flew into the dark depths. He couldn't see the ground.

"Cool!"

Suddenly the ground shook and collapsed underneath him, and he found himself falling. At first, Wilbur expected the worst, until he suddenly realized that he had accidentally landed on an open freight elevator, which moved unsteadily downwards.

He knew he would be in trouble if his father returned to the car and could not find him, but it wasn't his fault. The lift was rickety, unfavorable for riding, but he still decided to ride down with it.

The hole had to be 50 yards wide, with countless floors. Eventually the ground came in sight, and Wilbur was quite disappointed. He didn't even know what he had expected, but it wasn't a pile of rubble.

Arriving at his destination, the elevator came to a screeching halt.

In front of him stood two workers in yellow protective suits. They had their backs to him and were busy talking.

For a moment, Wilbur considered whether he should stay and ride the elevator up again, or whether he should take cover. He finally decided on hiding.

"How much time remains?" one of the workers asked.

"Three, four days maximum," answered the other. They climbed into the elevator and rode up.

"Do you believe it works?" Wilbur listened to the first's question. Then, they were gone.

Wilbur left his hiding place behind the box next to the elevator.

He was proud of himself. He should be an undercover agent, seeing as how he had snuck in here with such ease. Too bad none of his classmates would believe his story.

As long as the elevator was still gone, he could still scout around a little.

What was this strange place? It wasn't newly built; that was clear. Most of the girders and grills were red-brown from rust.

He went carefully through a half open, rusty metal door. Red light filled the aisle. A few feet  
further luminous white steam swelled from behind a corner. It didn't evaporate, but instead it covered the ground. It was a strange sight.

Wilbur decided to get to the bottom of this. Slowly he went to the turn-off, where the secret was hidden. With each step it became colder, so cold that he got goose bumps. When he peeked around the corner, he was blinded by bright white headlights. He blinked, his eyes trying to adjust to the bright light.

The steam was liquid nitrogen, flowing permanently over a half rusted, big, egg-shaped thing with a bull's-eye, where a few weak lights were blinking.

"... Cool!"

A spaceship! Wilbur thought, It must hold an alien inside!

Hypnotized, he made a few steps forward to look through the viewing window.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm.

"What the heck is this boy doing here?" someone cried.

"How did you come down here?" asked the man who held his arm.

"Someone should call the police ..." cried another voice.

"Wait! This is my son!"

Wilbur recognized the voice of his father, but didn't quite know whether he should be relieved or if he should run away.

Cornelius came to him. The guy detaining him let Wilbur go, just so his father grab his other arm and drag him into the elevator to ride upwards.

"Didn't I tell you to wait in the car?!" Cornelius yelled at him.

"I just wanted to -"

"You could've gotten hurt!"

"It was an accident!"

"Have you touched anything?"

"No! I just - "

"Wilbur! A construction site is not a playground! "

That wasn't true! Wilbur had never treated it like a playground. This argument was for little kids, not for him!

The elevator arrived at the top.

"I didn't play! I only looked around!" Wilbur defended himself.

His father led him to the car, as if Wilbur was small, unruly child.

"Wilbur! You could have been hurt badly! "

"Would have, could have, should have ... calm down, nothing happened!"

"Have you ever heard of responsibility? How old are you? 13 or 4? Stop behaving like a child! Grow up!"

~*~*~

... Grow up...

These are two words teenangers hate to hear...

Cornelius had gone back again and Wilbur was sitting in the car offended.

Fine. He'd screwed up, but that was no reason he should be treated like this. Perhaps he wasn't grown-up yet , but he wasn't a baby anymore! Did he always behave so irresponsibly?

He thought of something that his mother had told him long time ago.

"Wilbur, if parents scold their children, they do it just out of love. They are worried and want only the best for their children ..."

Appearently, his mother had no idea ...

The mood on the way to school was tense and cold . Wilbur crossed his arms, sulked, and stared out the window, offended by his father.

Cornelius glanced at his son out of the corner of his eye. Everytime Wilbur sulked, he looked so much like his mother.

Finally, he sighed. "I'm sorry, Wilbur ..."

His son probably decided to ignore him ... So much about adulthood, Cornelius thought.

"Okay ... The project I work on is secret ... But I'll tell you something ..."

His son looked warily over his shoulder.

"Listen ..." sighed Cornelius. "Usually, when I have an idea for an invention, I always try to improve people's lives... but ..."

It seemed difficult for his father. Wilbur didn't quite know what to think about it.

"But this time, I must save a human life .... And if I make the smallest mistake ... then .... then, you can certainly imagine what will happen. "

Cornelius focused his son over the edge of his glasses. Wilbur hesitated for a moment as if he really imagined the consequences.

Then he gave a dismayed "Oh..."

"I'm an inventor, not a doctor ..." Cornelius continued, "That's why I am under considerable strain at the moment. Do you understand?"

Wilbur nodded timidly, noticing with dismay that his father was afraid.

"But I shouldn't have shouted at you ... I'm sorry."

"It's okay ... I should've waited in the car ..."

Now, in light of this situation, this whole incident appeared unbelievably ridiculous to Wilbur. He didn't even remember that he just had sulked a moment ago.

They stopped at the school.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"When you fix this, will you let me know?"

Cornelius was a little surprised by this question. He looked to the passenger seat, surprised how quickly the boy had grown in the short time after his birth.

"Of course!" he said and his toulsed his son's hair.

"Hey, Dad! My hair! "

Wilbur got out of the car, and ran his hands through his hair, trying to restore it. Cornelius laughed and started the car. They said good bye, and Cornelius drove away.

Wilbur gazed back at the the flying vehicle for a while before he finally went to class.


	6. Chapter 5

After the fateful call, Cornelius was immediately driven to the construction site.

"We've found something ..." He had heard one of his colleagues utter at the other end of the line.

"So, what? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"You should really take a look ..." his colleague replied with an ominous tone.

Cornelius decided at that moment to drop everything immediately and head over.

It was dark when Cornelius reached the site. White and yellow headlights were arranged everywhere to illuminate the area adequately.

When he got out of the car, three of his colleagues came to him. (They probably came from home as well, because none of them wore their usual working clothes. Logan even wore his pajama pants already.)

They all had a serious, almost panicked look on their faces.

"Can anyone tell me what's going on here?!"

"You have to see it with your own eyes..."

Without any time to lose, he followed them to an elevator, which headed into a sheer groundless hole. Only a small, dim lamp supplied the inmates of the lift with a little light.

"Was it always here?" asked Cornelius, because in this pit, he couldn't remember it at all.

"The Diggerbots came across this shaft a few days ago. Apparently, the debris of the building which stood previously at this point sealed the shaft and created this void."

"Very impressive. And that's why I should come?" asked Cornelius, slightly irritated. He wanted to go home to his family. Even if he was a genius, did he have to find a solution to EVERYTHING? Couldn't the others - for a change – think for themselves?

"You scared me," Cornelius said, "I thought something horrible had happened!"

"Well, sort of ..." said Logan, one of its oldest and best employees.

The elevator stopped. His colleagues went out and showed him the way. The corridor was dark, like everything else down here.

"Be careful, it's pretty dark here."

At the end of the gangway, Cornelius acknowledged a weak light. They went in that direction.  
There were a few workers and two other colleagues in a semicircle around a dark object. The men nodded to welcome him, but nobody said a word. They all looked worried.

Cornelius finally directed his attention to the egg-shaped, rusty object.

"Oh my goodness!"

He didn't know why, but he immediately recognized what it was.

At the rust-pitted cryostasis capsule a few weak lights blinked, which showed that the energy supply was exhausted. He walked up closer to see them better.

In the top half, the capsule had a small viewing window, whose edges were covered with ice crystals.

Cornelius's pulse went faster ...

"Is there somebody inside?" he asked incredulously. But he didn't expect an answer. He bent a little closer toward the window, until his breath was visible in a small steam cloud.

In the weak glow of light he saw the face of a child - a girl. She had pale skin and dark hair. It reminded him a little of Snow White, except that she was masked.

He stepped back and bent down to the red flashing energy scale.

"That is our problem," Logan began.

"The source of energy is exhausted. We should try to defreeze her ..."

"But it is something no one has ever accomplished yet!" replied another.

While the others discussed, Cornelius pondered.

He wiped off the dust and dirt from the capsule and discovered two flat screens beneath it, but they had turned off, just like the other scales.

The scales for vital functions, heart rate, respiration, and brain activity flashed red. The energy was almost consumed. Just as the temperature and barometric pressure.

The energy for high-riding the system, the revitalization process, and ventilation was already completely gone.

"Perhaps we don't need to thaw her. Perhaps it will be enough if we attach an alternative energy source so that she remains deep-frozen until we are able to defreeze her"

"But in the time we take to attach the new energy source, the old one will diminish, and she could be dead already. The last remaining energy ensures that her heart will continue to beat. If we take too much time, she could die from heart failure... "

"Who can guarantee that a new energy source would work at all, not to mention the fact that we have no source of energy which is compatible with this outdated technology."

Cornelius didn't listen to the debate of the other researchers. Speeches wouldn't take them further at the moment.

He squatted on his knees and crawled to the back of the capsule.

"Flashlight!" he said and stretched out his hand. Someone gave him one.

"The capsule operates with a small mini-reactor. However, it is a weak radioactive element, and the energy is nearly exhausted ..." he noted after a while.

"Does anyone happen to have a voltmeter at hand?" he asked then.

Even with this someone could help out. Cornelius held the dipstick of the voltmeter to the reactor and looked at the screen until a beeping sound was heard.

Then he stood up and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"So?" asked one of his colleagues finally.

"We don't have much time ..." he said, showing them the display. The scientists became pale.

"In the short half-life period of this element, the energy lasts only for a week or two. That's not enough time!" said one.

"We've got to succeed!" said Cornelius resolutely. "Otherwise, this girl will die!"


	7. Chapter 6

She never imagined that thinking could hurt so much.

When she tried remembering or picturing something in her mind's eye, it felt like her thoughts were tied to heavy millstones. It was incredibly hard to even think straight.

It was a strange feeling.

It felt like she didn't have a name or a body - all she felt was a heavy weight pulling her down into eternal darkness.

She desperately fought against it.

Until suddenly, she was struck by a jolt of energy. She snapped her eyes open, but just then, a piercing light seared through her eyes, directly into her head; steams of air burned into her lungs - it was a world of pain. But it was good pain. It meant life. It was the same pain that newborns experience at their birth. But even the physical pain she was going through was more bearable than the mental pain.

At that moment, all the synapses in her brain started to function. Memories, words, language, faces, places, voices, names - all overwhelming her like a giant, roaring tidal wave.

Vi couldn't stand this surge of energy, and shortly after her body's functions were restored, she lost consciousness again.

~*~*~*~

It was dark.

But this time, it was a different darkness: quiet, non-threatening, and no longer ominous.

Now Violet became increasingly aware of her existence. She could feel her body and was able to think clearly. In her mind, she repeated the same questions over and over.

"Where am I?"

"What is happening?"

"Am I dead?"

The pain returned, returning her to the world of the living.

With each breath, Violet felt a dull pain in her chest. It required some effort, but she managed to lift her hand and lay it on her chest. To her, this appeared to be her first contact with the physical world. She felt the blanket that was covering her, and the IV tubes in her arm. She was still exhausted, but with a lot of will power, she managed to open her eyes.  
At first, the sharp light gave her a violent headache. Violet blinked until the pain subsided. Then, she stared at a white-gray ceiling. Yellowish artificial light filled the room.

"Where am I?" She asked herself.

"Hospital," was her own sober response.

"But why?"

She didn't know the answer to this question. What happened?

And more importantly: Did she give away her identity?

Vi was alarmed at this thought and her heart started to beat faster.

Did something happen before she got knocked out? Did the people now know her secret?! That would mean her family would have to move again! She wouldn't be able to go to the movies with Tony! Again, another new name, another new home ...

She closed her eyes, trying to remember. Maybe she was upset over nothing.

Babysitting ... a storm ... a yellow "C" .... That was all she could remember so far...

She reopened her eyes. It was difficult to move her head, but she still tried to look around. She was in a normal hospital room. The second bed was empty, which meant she was alone.

Also, there was no sign that her parents had been here.

Vi sighed. She would never be able to forgive herself if her family was uprooted again because of her.

Suddenly, a nurse in a salmon-pink dress entered.

"Good day!" She greeted. Vi could tell the nurse was a bit surprised, but she was still very friendly. "I'm glad you're awake! We were afraid that you wouldn't wake up again. Relax a little. You have a visitor."

Vi was so stunned, that she couldn't say anything.

... Afraid that she wouldn't wake up again ...?

How long had she slept? Did she miss her date with Tony?

Whatever. She would just ask her parents what happened. She was sure they would enter soon.

But Vi was wrong to believe that her parents were the announced visitors.

Instead of her parents, a tall man with glasses, a funny hair style, and a white lab coat - obviously a doctor – poked his head inside cautiously.

"Hello ..." he said hesitantly, entering the room.

"Hi ..."

Vi was shocked to hear how hoarse her voice sounded.

"Cornelius Robinson ..." the doctor introduced himself.

Despite having a tired arm, Vi managed to lift it to shake his hand. She didn't even think of telling him her name.

"Erm - are you the doctor? What happened?"

"Oh no, I'm not the doctor ..." he said, sitting down on a chair next to Vi's bed. Vi frowned.

"I'm the one who unfroze you from the cryostasis. And we would like to know what happened, Invisigirl."

Vi felt anxious at the mention of her superhero identity. She didn't know how to react. Her instincts told her to run away and go home, but she was too weak.

Stunned, she just stared at Mr. Robinson.

"Don't worry. Besides some of my closest colleagues and I, nobody else knows about it," he reassured her. "We found you around the area of a construction site. You and the capsule were in critical condition. That's why I'm also very glad to see you safe and healthy now."

Vi shook her head slowly. Capsule? Cryostasis? Construction Site? What?!

Cornelius seemed to realize her confusion. He lowered his head and folded his hands. He wanted to say something, but it seemed difficult for him.

"Listen, Invisigirl," he paused, "If you tell me your true name, perhaps we'll be able to find your family, and -"

"That won't be necessary, just let me go! I'll find the way home on my own ..." and if she had to, she'd go home invisible and completely naked!

When he'd mentioned her family, Vi suddenly became enraged. How did she know whether to trust this guy or not? Her identity was her most valuable possession! She wouldn't sacrifice it this easily!

"Thank you for getting me out of this mess, but I'm certainly not gonna hand you my family on a silver platter!"

She recovered, slipped from the bed, and pulled the tubes out of her arm (which was more painful then she let herself show).

"And where do you think you'll go?" Mr. Robinson stood up.

"Home! Even though that's none of your business!"

"That's ... really not possible..." he said slowly.

"Why ... What have you done with my family?"

Why couldn't she go home?

Mr. Robinson moved over to the window of the hospital room, pulling the curtain back with a quick jerk of his hand. Outside, the city of TodayLand shone in all its beautiful splendor.

Violet's jaw dropped and eyes widened. Incredulously, she took a few steps over to the window.

Moving sidewalks, flying cars, suspended railways, flying soap bubbles with people inside, futuristic buildings shining in the sun...

"Are ... are we on another planet?" asked Vi, without taking her eyes off this incredible view before her.

"No," Cornelius smiled for a second, before his expression became serious.

"Invisigirl ... You were deep-frozen for more than 30 years."

~*~*~

Cornelius talked to her for more than an hour. There was certainly a possibility that she could be returned to her family. But she wouldn't have to reveal her identity; she could get a new identity and live with a foster family, if she wanted. Of course, she had some opportunities available. All she'd have to do was decide, and he'd do anything to make it possible for her to live a normal life again...

But Violet wasn't really listening.

A stupid accident ... A stupid accident would cost her 30 years of her life?

30 years ... that was ... that was like an eternity! Were her parents still alive?

The image of two grave stones formed in her mind...

She shook her head. She didn't want to see that!

Her date with Tony!

I probably missed out on that too, she thought cynically.

A dream ...It was a dream, of course! She'd wake up! Everything would be fine again!

"Invisigirl ..." Cornelius said, when he realized he lost Vi's attention.

Vi looked up at him wearily. Maybe she'd wake up when she was asleep in this world ... well, she had to wake up... she had a date on Saturday!

"I'd like to be alone," she whispered.

Mr. Robinson nodded understandingly and left the room.

When Vi awoke the next morning, she was shocked to see that she was still in the same hospital room. Upon seeing the lively bustle of flying cars outside, she became painfully aware of her reality – whether she liked it or not.

The nurse came in with her fresh smile, bringing Vi her breakfast. She said something, but Vi wasn't listening. She wanted no part of this world - she wanted to be back! In her world and her time!

The food smelled tempting, but Vi ignored it. She wanted to take nothing from this world.

She wanted to cry and scream, to chuck the table against the wall ... to destroy anything! But her anger disappeared with the realization that all this wouldn't change her situation or make her feel any better.

All she felt was powerlessness and despair.

Around noon Mr. Robinson visited her again.

Vi sat upright in her bed, but her head was dropped down to her chest, and her eyes were half closed.

Cornelius hesitated when she didn't reply to his greeting.

"Parr ..." she said finally.

"What?" He asked.

"Violet Parr, daughter of Bob and Helen Parr ..."

What had she just done? How could she know whether anyone could be trusted in this world? She was all alone ...

"I'll handle it immediately," Cornelius said gently, heading toward the door

"Thank you, Mr. Robinson, for your help ..."

When Cornelius turned around, he looked into a sad face, half hidden by dark hair. Somehow, he managed to smile slightly before leaving.


	8. Chapter 7

Bob was loving his retirement!

He and his wife Helen had spent most of their time relaxing. "No more excitement than necessary" was their new motto.

Yes, even the lives of these famous superheroes had become much simpler now. A few years ago, the crime rate decreased so dramatically that the police no longer needed any extra assistance.

Thanks to Cornelius Robinson and the optimistic future he created, ordeals with supervillians were finally a part of the past. Therefore, they could now spend their time going to chic restaurants, spas and theaters.

And, of course, every Wednesday and Saturday, Bob had his golf matches.

Originally, Bob believed this sport – which wasn't really a sport in his opinion – was for wimps. But after finding out the reason most men played - the honor of being on a tournament - he began to really enjoy that game. His new "battleground" was the golf course but still, he didn't take the sport too seriously.

This Wednesday, he played against Mr. Morisco, a wealthy banker. Bob had played against him previously, and won every single time. But Morisco was a proud man, and he couldn't stand being defeated by someone of the lower middle class.

Bob was teeing off. He swung the club very gently, and the ball flew about 164 yards away, landing right next to the 18th hole. Morisco made a face.

"How are you doing this?" he asked, not without admiration.

"Practice, practice, practice..." Bob mused cheerfully, swinging his club once again. How he loved reducing these Country Club twerps to despair.

Oh yes, Bob loved his retirement.

That evening, Bob came home after another great win.

"Hello!" he called into their cozy little bungalow.

"Hey, Sweetie!" Helen answered from the kitchen. She sat at the table, sorting some money.

"How was it at the charity gala?" he asked, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek from behind.

"Fantastic! We received almost $2000!" Helen beamed joyfully.

"Wow, that's great" said Bob, trying to squeeze his golf bag into the bedroom closet without destroying it.

"And how did your match go?" Helen asked from the kitchen.

Bob came from the bedroom with a big grin and threw a towel casually over his shoulder.

"As always, baby!" he said pridefully, kissing her again.

Helen couldn't resist Bob's macho act and laughed.

"So, you'll never get bored of winning every time?"

"No."

"Well then, I just hope that you play fair" she grinned, as she continued to count the money.

"Sure" he said sarcastically. Helen rolled her eyes.

"So, what's for dinner tonight? Winning always makes me so hungry" Bob said, going into the bathroom to shave.

"I thought ... well, we haven't been to Romanelli's for a long time" Helen replied.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

"I'll get it" she said, standing up.

"Mmmmm... Italian" Bob murmured.

"Good idea, isn't it?" Helen replied cheerfully, picking up the receiver.

"Hello? ... Oh, Honey! It's Dash!" she called over to Bob.

"Does that boy need money again?" Bob joked.

"Ask him if we're still on for our fishing trip next week" he added with a laugh.

"Your father wants to know whether - What? Why ...? No. Why should I sit down? Oh my God Sybille isn't pregnant again, is she? ..."

"What?" Bob asked, putting shaving cream on his face. He didn't understand the conversation completely.

"What's going on, honey?" he asked.

Suddenly, he heard a muffled thud.

"Honey?"

He ran into the living room. Helen was laying on the ground unconscious. The receiver dangled down.

He quickly bent down to her, lifted her head slightly and swept her hair from her face.

Then, the phone captured his attention. Bob reached for it slowly, as if he was hypnotized.

"Hello?"

"Dad! They found Violet!"

~*~*~*~*~

It was already dark when they arrived in Today Land. Their GPS led them to the hospital.

Bob sat at the wheel. He glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eye. Helen had hardly said a word since they left Cape Coral. She was pale and wore a strange, tense expression on her face...

Bob hoped that he would never see this expression again. He was worried about her.

For Helen, Violet's disappearance had been especially difficult. It was difficult for all of them, but Helen simply fell to pieces.

Dark memories of tears and hidden whiskey bottles flooded his thoughts. He shook his head, trying get rid of these images.

In the first years after Violet's disappearance, there were many reports about missing girls and young women that fit her physical description.

But each time, it was just one huge disappointment. Bob knew that he had to be strong for Helen, for his whole family, and somehow they all managed it. They left the shadows of the past behind and now lived a happy life.

Bob didn't want his wife to get her hopes up ... and be disappointed again.

"Listen, honey... we must expect the worst ..." he said quietly.

Helen cringed.

"The worst?"

"That ... she's not Vi..."

"She's not" Helen repeated as if in a trance, staring into thin air.

"She can't be. She's dead and buried! She isn't Vi!" she burst out suddenly, clenching her small hands to fists.

"Exactly ..."

Bob himself wasn't too keen on the idea that their daughter was alive. Their daughter ... who had vanished almost 30 years ago without a trace. It wouldn't be their daughter anymore, anyway. It would be a stranger. A stranger who had brought a lot of sorrow over his family.

Hopefully, she had a good excuse...

...If she was their daughter at all.

In the hospital, the lady at the reception desk was already expecting them. She sent them up. Dash and Jack were already there. Helen seemed to get paler with every step.

"Hi, Mom" Dash said comfortingly. He reached over to give her a hug.

"Did you see her already?" she asked abruptly.

Jack shook his head.

"It's probably just another mix-up! We really could have saved the trip!" Bob said in annoyance.

"This time, it's different ..." Dash replied hesitantly, looking at Jack.

"The DNA-profile agrees 100 percent" Jack explained. Helen's eyes widened. She folded her hands, pressing them together so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"100 percent...?" she repeated.

A man dressed in a suit and tie came along the corridor towards them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Parr?" he asked. Bob nodded.

"I'm Cornelius Robinson" he introduced himself and shook hands with Bob.

Bob's jaw dropped. This was the Cornelius Robinson? Bob always ... well ... imagined that he would be a little older. If Cornelius Robinson was involved, then obviously this was very important.

"I'm aware of the seriousness of this situation, so I'll make it short: your daughter is doing well, but –"

"But what?" Helen interrupted indignantly. She was at the end of her rope.

"Shh"

Bob put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"However, she may've barely changed since you last saw her..." Robinson went on.

Bob glanced at Dash and Jack, who looked just as puzzled as he was.

"What do you mean, 'she's barely changed '?" asked Helen.

"By a tragic coincidence, she was in cryostasis for the last 32 years..."

"In what?" asked Dash.

"Deep frozen" Jack replied.

"Exactly. The energy module wasn't designed for such a long period. But fortunately, we managed to get her out of the capsule before it –"

"May we see her?" Helen interrupted once again.

"Of course. Follow me" said Cornelius. He understood that words meant nothing to this family at the moment.


	9. Chapter 8

Vi was nervous. More than 30 years - that was an incredibly long time.

Countless questions flew through her head. She wasn't worried about the fact that their identities could be jeopardized. Mr. Robinson had assured her otherwise.

However, with each passing minute, Violet became more conscious of the impending reunion. While only a few days had passed for her, her family aged for more than 30 years Vi could hardly imagine that fact, let alone comprehend it.

But she knew one thing. She would never be able to change that.

So she sat there, in the nicely decorated lounge, awaiting her fate. Her pulse went faster ...

Suddenly, Violet glanced up to see her parents standing in the doorway. Surprisingly, she was not as shocked as she had expected she would be. She realized that most supers were able to avoid serious medical problems in their old age, and this was obviously the case with her parents. Her father had gained more weight. He had lost some hair, and the hairs that remained were all grey. Her mother still had the same chestnut brown hair that she did thirty years ago, but Vi assumed that her mother now dyed it.

They just stood there and stared at her.

"Mom?" Violet asked after a pause. She said it just to break the awkward silence.

"Vi," her mother cried suddenly.

As her parents rushed forward and embraced her, Vi wondered why she had been so afraid. She felt that same warm, comforting feeling that she always felt when her parents hugged her. And now they were here ... her parents, her family ... and nothing in the world would change that

~*~*~*~*~

It was all so incredible, and yet so strange.

Yesterday when she saw her parents, she was relieved. They were still living, and they were feeling well.

But as for Dash, she hardly recognized him. He was the spitting image of their father. It was strange to embrace her little brother, especially because he was now much older and bigger than her.

And Jack-Jack, the last time she saw him, he was still a baby.

He had stood awkwardly in the doorway, not knowing quite what he should do. Vi could understand that. After all, she was like a stranger to him, just as he was for her.  
They hugged quickly and awkwardly, and he smiled shyly, understanding that the situation was just as strange to her as it was to him.

It didn't proceed like she imagined. Violet had seen talk shows where families met up with lost ones they hadn't seen for years. Those reunions had always been filled with tears of joy and happiness.

But this wasn't a talk show ...

Vi smiled bitterly.

Even so, reality still wrote the craziest stories.

~*~*~*~*~

The next afternoon, Helen and Bob picked Violet up from hospital.

The doctors told her she was free to go, but they warned her that her body could still be weak and tired, and that she should be careful.

After their happy family reunion, Mr. Robinson explained their options. They shouldn't make any hasty decisions. This matter had to be thought over. Until then, Mr. Robinson and the Parrs agreed that Violet should stay with Dash and his family in TodayLand.

With wide eyes, Violet and her parents walked down the big marble staircase in front of the hospital. Vi was dazzled by the sheer magnificence of this city. As always, there was a steady stream of traffic - on the ground, as well as in the air.

Everything seemed peaceful and clean. People, plus a few robots, were transported on moving sidewalks, in giant soap bubbles, overhead railways, or flying cars. Everything was so futuristic. It was as if she had fallen directly into a comic strip.

Two blocks down, an instant building suddenly popped up into the sky. Vi winced. Her father laughed and laid a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"This all must be pretty overwhelming."

"Well, it seems as if I have to catch up on a lot."

"Overwhelming" was putting it mildly. This magnificent picture before her eyes - the colors, the light, all the individuals rushing through this scenery made her dizzy ...

But perhaps it was just an side-effect of her long, cold sleep. Vi said nothing about it to her parents. She didn't want them to worry again.

A futuristic-looking black car was parked at the foot of the stairs. Violet was relieved to see that it had wheels and was probably not designed to fly. When she entered, Bob pushed a few buttons, but Helen interrupted him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Honey, let's remain on the ground for now" she said with a harsh undertone. Bob sighed.

"But –"

"You remember what happened with Jack, when we flew with him for the first time."

That seemed to convince Bob.

"On the ground?" Vi asked timidly.

Helen turned around and beamed at her.

"Almost all cars have a flight function today, my dear. But don't worry, we'll take the old-fashioned way."

On the way to Dash's house, Violet was feeling a little overwhelmed. Her parents - especially her mother - spoke incessantly about what had happened in recent years to prepare Vi for the upcoming meeting. They explained that Dash was now the manager of a sporting goods store, that he and Jack had abandoned their superhero activities a few years ago, that Dash was married to a journalist and had two children, and so on ...

At the same time, her attention was drawn to the landscape outside. The continuous movement of the car, the back-and-forth and the stop-and-go, was all becoming a bit too much for Vi.  
For 32 years, she was lying in the same position, completely comatose. Now, her senses flooded with impressions and movements, Vi was feeling not only dizzy, but queasy as well.

"Everything all right, sweetheart?" Helen asked, a little worried. Violet nodded, but her face was pale, and cold sweat had formed on her forehead.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've rode in a car" she said softly, with slight sarcasm. Helen smiled, and told Bob that he should slow down.

Vi leaned her head against the cool windowpane and looked at the panorama. The town was very sophisticated, and although the buildings were close together, there was still enough space in-between each, to keep it from becoming too closed-in. Everything looked bright and inviting.

Outside the city, the traffic calmed down. The landscape was green and healthy. Neatly trimmed lawns and artfully clipped hedges lined the way. Behind a small hilltop, Vi saw a large, sparkling blue lake.

Everything was very harmonious ... a little too harmonious, and almost artificial. Vi took it all in, completely reserved and silent. At the moment, she felt as if she was on a ghost train ride with the car, but instead of the skeletons and ghosts this strange panorama passing her by. It seemed that she would never leave that ghost train. She was in a strange world.

Suddenly, the car stopped.

"Here we are!" her father exclaimed happily. Vi stepped out.

"This is my brother's house" she thought, swelling up with sisterly pride.

The house was modern - at least, it was for Violet's standards. It was rust red and had a flat roof. The top floor had large, round windows. A white fence wrapped around the garden at the front of the house, and in the backyard, there were large, dark green hedges. Like all the lawns in the future, theirs was short and neatly kept. In the back corner of the garden, Violet noticed a doghouse, but with a closer look, she realized that it wasn't a dog in there, but a robot.

Vi wrinkled her nose, thinking of the cheap robot dog toys from her time. Had such a toy - during her absence - developed into a complex replacement for a pet?

"Hey! You're finally here!"

Vi turned around.

Dash had come out of the house, sporting a big grin. A woman stood behind him, her blonde hair arranged neatly atop her head. That had to be Sybille, Vi's sister-in-law.

"Nice lodge" Violet said approvingly, giving a slight smile.

"And it's still not the best" he laughed, and hugged her tightly. Then suddenly, Dash scooped her up off the ground.

"Hey Dash! Let me down!"

Dash carried her to the house. Bob laughed as he took the suitcases out of the car. He and Helen had spent the whole night at the hospital.

"Be careful with her, dear" Helen said worriedly.

Vi sat on Dash's shoulder, holding her stomach. She still felt queasy, and this didn't make it any better.

"The lost daughter has returned" Dash announced dramatically.

He placed his sister on the doorstep with Sybille. Vi glanced up at her, and Sybille smiled back shyly.

"Hello, Violet I'm Sybille" she said kindly, shaking hands with Violet. Sybille was pretty, and very neatly dressed. What did her mother just say? She was a journalist, wasn't she? Anyway, she looked as if she came straight out of an office.

"Opposites attract" Vi thought. She would have never believed that her brother would marry such a woman.

"Come in" she said invitingly, "Well, it looks as if you will stay with us the next few days.  
Emely cleared out her room, so you can sleep there"

Emely? That had to be one of Dash's daughters. Violet gulped. She was an ... aunt?

Sybille led Violet in, Dash and her parents following behind. They talked about the trip and other things, while they removed their jackets. Violet didn't listen to them. Her knees were weak as she walked and looked around. Then she suddenly paused.

Two girls were sitting in the kitchen and looking at her carefully in the hallway. They seemed to have been waiting a while. Violet didn't know exactly what she had imagined when her mother said that Dash had two daughters. They both looked so much like their father, as well as their mother.

They both seemed to be around Violet's age. This was just wrong

Vi got a knot in her throat and felt dizzy again. These were her two nieces ... and she was their aunt!

The older one of the two, a girl with long, dark blonde hair, immediately stood up when she noticed Violet's gaze and walked slowly towards her.

"Hello. I'm Flame ..." she said kindly, reaching for Violet's hand. But before Violet was able to take it, a blonde blur suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Hello, Aunt Violet!" cried the younger sister.

Flame rolled her eyes. "And this is my sister, Emely"

"But they all call me M! Come on! I'll show you where you'll sleep"

Before Violet was able to say anything, Emely grabbed her hand and pulled her through the hallway and up the stairs. The upper hall was painted orange and lined with several red doors.  
Emely opened one of them.

Violet blinked. This room was almost completely pink. The walls, the bed, the curtains ...

"And this is MY room! Here's where you'll sleep. I'll be sleeping in Flame' room. Of course, not with her in her bed. She has a couch. I also wanted one, but my room is too small. If Flame gets a new couch, maybe I'll get her old one. But that would be – well, it doesn't matter, because ... well, my room is too small. I thought that maybe we can exchange our rooms, but ..."

Vi escaped from Emely's crushing embrace, went inside and sat down on the bed.

"Are you okay?"

Nothing was okay ... all this sudden effort - this running upstairs - was a little too exhausting. She felt queasy and dizzy.

And besides that, she felt like she was in a totally crazy dream – in a room that could've belonged to Barbie herself... only that it wasn't a dream ... and she would never wake up.

"I'm okay. I feel just a little dizzy. The doctors said that would be normal in the first few days"

"Dizziness?" Emely asked, "So, if I feel dizzy, then ... well, then I'll just stop twirling around, but you haven't. So –"

"Shut up, M!" Flame scolded. She appeared behind Emely and came into her room.

"Don't talk to your sister like that, honey" Helen said, as she walked up the stairs.

Then she turned to Vi.

"Sweetheart, dinner's ready. Are you sure you want something to eat?" she asked lovingly, sitting down beside her on Emely's bed and putting her arms around her.

"Or do you want to rest first?"

Vi sighed. Sleep sounded very tempting at the moment. But she changed her mind quickly when she took a look at the pink bed-linens.

"I think I've rested long enough" she said finally. Helen smiled.


	10. Chapter 9

As Violet and Helen came down, a delicious aroma floated through the air, and Vi's stomach began to rumble impatiently. This time not because she was feeling queasy, but because she was hungry.

She hadn't really done much today, but even so, she was totally starved. The queasiness had suddenly disappeared.

Helen seated her at the big table in the dining room. Violet sat there alone while the others bustled around and set the table.

"Can I help?"

"You stay here," her father said, pushing her back into the chair.

Within a short time, the table was set.

The dinner was plentiful.

Violet sat between her parents, opposite of Sybille and Dash. Flame and Emely sat at the corners of the table. One place was empty.

"Jack just called. He's coming a little later," Dash explained.

"He's probably dishing up some lame excuse for his girlfriend," Emely said sarcastically.

"Oh, don't be mean," Helen replied, reaching with her elastic arm to grab the salad bowl at the other end of the table.

"What is it with his girlfriend?" Violet asked.

"Nothing. It's just that the two of them have been together for almost three years now, and he hasn't even bothered to introduce her to us," Dash said casually, taking a large piece of roast and putting it on his plate.

"He hasn't told his girlfriend that his family is ... well, different," Flame explained to Violet, trying to keep her up to speed.

"They have been together for three years, and she still doesn't know that he's a Super?" Vi asked incredulously.

"He'll tell her when the time is right. Just leave the boy alone," Helen said, trying to end the conversation.

Violet shrugged. Suddenly, she saw the bowl with the potatoes float above the table directly to Emely. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.

"Emely is a medium!" Bob announced pridefully. Vi turned to her father, taken aback, then shifted her gaze to Emely, who was beaming happily.

"You are ... I mean, you've got super powers too?"

"Sure!" Emely grinned cheerfully. Then her expression changed, and she rolled her eyes.

"But we aren't allowed to use them in public. We need to learn to get along without them," she said monotonously. Apparently, she had heard this a lot of times already.

"It would be too dangerous," Sybille replied to her daugheter.

Vi could understand. After what she had heard so far, Sybille had no super powers - she was completely normal. It must not be easy for her to live in a family full of superheroes.

"Not for me!" Emely argued. Flame gave an annoyed groan.

"What's your ability?" Violet asked the other sister. Flame shifted uneasily in her chair, suddenly taking great interest in her plate.

"I-uhm ..."

"Flame's a human torch," Emely said. "But she doesn't like to talk about it," she added precociously.

"Shut up, M!"

"Don't say "shut up", honey," Sybille scolded.

Flame glared at her plate again, and Violet glanced at her, feeling as though she could relate to what Flame was going through. Flame noticed her gaze and smiled bitterly.

"Oh wow, I can put things on fire .... That is soooo cool ... "she mumbled sarcastically.

"Oh dear, there'll come the day when you'll need your ability," Helen said with a smile, but stopped when she noticed that Sybille didn't seem very enthusiastic about it.

"I mean ... figuratively ..." Helen hesitated, trying to make excuses. Bob laughed.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and Dash rushed to answer it. Not even one second later, Vi could hear the front door open.

He's still pretty fast, She thought.

He returned with Jack.

"Sorry that I'm so late," he said, sitting down at the table. He turned his attention to Violet.

"I made a few inquiries about this Cobra person you told us about yesterday, the one who trapped you in the rubble for thirty years ..."

Violet noticed her father start to tense up.

"So?" Bob asked.

"Nothing ..." Jack replied disappointedly, putting his jacket over the backrest. "The government was real quiet about it. It was as if he completely vanished from the scene..."

"In the truest sense of the word ..." Violet said quietly. An awkward silence ensued as everybody suddenly directed their attention to her.

"I don't think he made it out there alive," she finished.

**************

After dinner, they all sat in the living room. It reminded Violet of her parents' living room. On each side, large windows revealed the garden outside. The futuristic furniture was arranged tastefully.

The others began to tell Vi anecdotes and funny stories, and they explained to her why they were no longer active superheroes. Everyone was cheerful and laughing. After a short time, Violet's stomach was aching from laughter.

There were still some things she didn't understand, but she decided to hold off for the moment.

Apparently, her family decided to leave out all those unpleasant years after Violet's disappearance.

Violet learned many other things. She learned that her rescuer Cornelius Robinson, was actually the founder of the future, and almost all the world now lived under his motto: "Keep Moving Forward!"

She also learned more about what her family members were doing now. Jack worked as a researcher for Robinson Industries. When the topic came up about his girlfriend Susan, he responded slightly irritated, but Dash and Bob just laughed.

A few years ago, Dash had gone into business for himself, and the sporting goods store that he opened was running smoothly. Flame worked there from time to time and received a small salary. However, when they asked her if she wanted to own the store someday, she responded with a fierce shake of her head.

Sybille was a freelance journalist, but worked her way up, and now was the news anchor for a regional television station.

"When did he tell you that he's a super hero?" Violet asked curiously. She was a little confused. After all, Sybille was "normal" - (That is, if you counted a rock climbing, motorcycling, boxing, and skydiving as normal hobbies.)

"I believe the question should be, 'When did he reveal his real name?'" Sybille corrected, grinning at her husband.

"Wait ... you met him as 'The Flash' first?"

"Pretty much," Dash admitted, putting an arm around his wife. "And then she stalked me for three years!"

"I never stalked you!"

"You did!"

"No!"

"She DID stalk me," Dash said to Vi, ignoring his wife's objections.

"She was probably attracted by your witty sense of humor and intelligence," Jack teased.

"Haha!"

Helen and Bob told of their quiet life in Cape Coral. They lived there since Bob's retirement and were enjoying their lives.

"Didn't you always say, 'Golf is only for softies'?" Vi laughed at her father.

"Well, now I can beat all those 'softies'," Bob laughed, starting to light his pipe. But a strict cough by Sybille made him pause.

"Gosh ... not even to celebrate this day?"

Sybille raised her eyebrow.

"This woman doesn't even need to say anything! Make you wonder who is the man in the house..." Bob said jokingly, rising from his seat..

"I'm the man in the house," Dash said loudly, putting his hands on his hips, "but she wears the pants!" he added with a grin.

"I need some fresh air anyway," Bob aid, stretching himself and walking out on the terrace. Dash followed him.

It was getting late, and Violet became tired. Emely was already curled up at the other end of the sofa and sleeping.

Violet leaned against her mother, and Helen put her arms around her comfortingly.

Violet could hardly keep her eyes open. A lot of questions were burning in her mind.

What happened after her disappearance?

What had they done?

Why hadn't they found her much earlier?

Did they simply forget about her?

But she decided that she wouldn't ask these questions ... not today.

********************

Vi woke up the next morning in a wonderful, cozy bed. At first, she thought that she was at home - that she had finally awakened from this nightmare. But when she opened her eyes and stared at the pink walls, she was disappointed again.

Vi sat up and looked out of the large round window. The weather was beautiful.

The whole thing was real. She was really here, and had really slept in her niece's bed...

Vi sighed, and laid back on the bed.

Flame and Emely were sitting in the living room in their pajamas watching TV when Violet came in. They gave her a friendly greeting.

The adults were sitting in the kitchen, discussing what should be done about Violet now.

"Good morning," Violet greeted, as she came into the kitchen.

"Morning, my darling!"

"So? What now?" Violet asked. Dash blinked sleepily at her, and her mother rose from her chair to speak.

"This is what we discussed. Dash has enough space and two children who still go to school ... so, maybe it would be better if you stay here ... "

"But -"

"Only until we've handled our affairs in Cape Coral. We'll sell the house and look for something in TodayLand. What do you think?" her father asked.

Just nod and say yes, Vi told herself disappointedly. She was sorry ... sorry that she suddenly intruded into their lives, sorry that everything turned upside-down because of her.

On the other hand, it was the least they could do.


	11. Chapter 10

authors note:

First of all: kudos to NinjaRabbitLiz from deviantart, who makes the beta reading and is responsible for all the wonderful changes (really, without her you would hardly get the plot ^______^)

I'm sorry for those who can't hear about Violet anymore. I'm a dramaturgy freak so I simply can't leave this out. It's important for me to show how Violet's first days in this 'new world' are. What ever. The next chapter will be from Wilbur's perspective again, so look forward to it! XD Wilet for ever! Over and out!***

* * *

Two days later, Bob and Helen left to sell their house in Cape Coral.

Dash and Violet watched the car drive away. Vi jumped slightly when the car suddenly took off into the sky and flew in a curve above their heads.

"You'll get used to it faster than you think" Dash said, smiling.

Violet sighed.

"Right now, I don't know if I'll ever to get used to it."

They turned around to go back into the house, but just then the doghouse caught Violet's eye again. This time it was empty.

"Where's the dog?" She asked her brother.

"What dog? Oh... no, that's not for a dog" Dash laughed "That's for HALM - Hyper Aeromatic Lawn Mower"

"A lawn mower?"

"Exactly. He also has an integrated alarm, so I guess he is kind of like a watchdog. He recharges in the house, but right now he should be running around here somewhere." Dash paused, then called out, "HALM?"

Suddenly from the hedge behind them, a small, metal tuft ran up and jumped on Dash's leg, making a noise that sounded like a tinny bark.

"There you are Yes, all right. I just wanted to know where you were. You can continue."

The mechanical lawn mower dog obeyed the command and began to tread slowly across the lawn, cutting the long blades of grass with rapid jaw movements.

Vi laughed, shaking her head in disbelief at the same time.

"That must seem pretty crazy for you."

Vi just smiled. 'Crazy' wasn't exactly the word she had in mind...

*****************************

Physically, Vi was already feeling much better. Two nights of sleep and balanced meals really did the trick.

She felt strong enough to take a closer look at her brother's house.  
Emely's room was the perfect example of a typical preteen girl's room. Besides clothes, there were also toys and dolls placed neatly in her closet.

Posters of bands and cute actors, which Violet had obviously never heard of, hung on the walls.

Violet walked further down the hall and into Flame's room. Even though it was her first time in here, Vi felt right at home. The walls were painted a subtle blue, with light orange accents. In the large round window, Flame had arranged a comfortable reading area with blankets, plushies and pillows. Next to the couch was a shelf holding countless books.

Vi went to the shelf, removing what appeared to be oldest book, an unfamiliar fantasy novel. She flipped through the first three pages and looked at the date of publication.

"1st Edition, 2011..." she whispered. She shut the book and looked at the cover, which showed the picture of a wolf howling at a full moon. Somehow, the image made her feel lonely inside. This book was published six years after her disappearance. To Flame, was this book just... an old tome. The pages were already yellowed and frayed.

Violet sighed sadly, putting the book back in its place.

The other rooms of the upper floors weren't that interesting. She found Dash and Sybille's bedroom and an office with their computers and filing cabinets.

The basement had been specially designed for Flame's ... fiery mood. A thermo-insulated training room had been set up. When Violet opened the door to the training room, it was as if she had opened the shutter of a furnace. The heat made her eyes water.

Flame, dressed in gym shorts and a tank top, was hopping around a punching bag. The air around her flickered.

"Oh, hi Violet" she said, surprised to see her aunt. "Can I help you?"

"I'm just looking around ..." Vi replied. She wanted to say something more, but the heat made her throat dry. She gave a slight wave goodbye and closed the door again.

All that was left to explore in the basement was a storage room, a laundry room, and a lot of junk - old toys, including an old dollhouse, sleds, bicycles and a broken paddle. Vi smiled when she realized that some of the old things appeared to be slightly fire-damaged.

Violet was a little disappointed, so she started up the stairs again. She had been hoping to discover more interesting information. She stood on the stairs and leaned against the railing, feeling very bored. But being bored was a good thing, because it meant that she had enough energy to do anything that this strange new world had to offer.

She decided to investigate the ground floor.  
Emely was sitting in the kitchen, painting a picture. Vi tapped her on the shoulder gently, taking a look at the picture she was working on. It was a white unicorn with a pink mane and asterisk on its rump. Emely turned to her and grinned. Vi smiled back.

Violet took a great interest in the futuristic-looking paintbrush Emely was holding in her hand. She wondered for a moment if it could change its color automatically.

"It doesn't." Emely said suddenly.

"It doesn't what?" Vi asked confusedly.

"The paintbrush does not change its color automatically."

Vi blinked. Did she say that out loud?

"That ... I didn't say –"

Her niece looked at her triumphantly, and Violet could suddenly hear Emely's voice in her head. But Emely wasn't talking, because her lips weren't moving.

"But you thought it You actually have to press this button to change the color. I mean, what good is it to have telekinetic abilities when you can't use them?"

Violet's jaw dropped.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Emely said grinning, "I'm actually not allowed to read minds, but I wanted to show you that I can do it"

"Cool, Violet enthused. She was really impressed that somebody in her family had such a practical super power.

Emely continued painting, and Violet went into the living room. But this time, she concentrated on each shelf. There were many books about everything, from mathematics to bungee-jumping.

And many family photos. Baby photos of Flame and Emely, wedding and vacation photos of Dash and Sybille, pictures of their parents, pictures of Sybille's parents. Seeing these pictures made Violet's heart ache. She thought back to the date of the book and all the things she had missed - a whole life full of events.

Then she suddenly realized that there was not a single picture of her.

She could understand that. Or at least, she tried to believe it.

If Dash was the one who had disappeared, would she put up his picture only to be reminded of that painful loss everyday?  
Yes! She would!

Anger smoldered in Vi's gut, and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

Did they simply let her disappear from their lives? Did they just wipe out all the unpleasant memories of her disappearance?

In one of the lower shelves, Violet discovered photo albums. Maybe there were a few pictures of her in there.

The first photo album she picked up was the wrong one. It seemed like it was Sybille's, filled with childhood photos of her and her brother. Vi flipped through it quickly and put it back again.  
The next album was a hodgepodge of photos and newspaper articles about the Incredibles . That hurt Vi - these should be her memories, but instead, it was like the photo album of a stranger ....

She had missed out on so much, so many memories she would never share...

Her eyes filled with tears. It wasn't fair. There was no way to undo what happened. Why had something like happened that to her?

There was no picture of her in that album either, but Violet suppressed the pain she felt. She finally understood why there were no pictures of her from that time. They would be found in an earlier album.

When she put the album back into the shelf, an envelope with photos fell out of it. Vi knelt on the ground to pick up the envelope. Only one corner of a photo was visible, but Vi's heart suddenly beat faster. For a moment, she wondered if she should pretend that she had never seen this envelope and put it back into the album, but her hands didn't obey her thoughts.

Mechanically, she pulled the pictures out of the envelope...

"Oh my God" she whispered, tears running down her cheeks.

The pictures were of her family. Dash seemed to be somewhat older than her, and Jack Jack was about seven. They all wore dark clothing, and her mother's face was covered by a black veil.

It was a funeral.

It was her funeral.

"M, tell Mom that I'll be out making an end-of-month adjustment!"

"Okay, Dad"

"I'll be back around seven. Can you..." Dash stopped mid-sentence. Violet squatted behind the couch and shook her head slowly. He knew, even before he actually saw, which photos she held in her hands.

"Violet?" He walked cautiously towards her.

"I can't believe it. You've buried me ..."

"Dash sighed sympathetically. He felt so sorry for her. He knelt beside her and took the pictures from her hands. Then, he laid his hand reassuringly on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Violet shouted, jumping up suddenly. Dash jerked away.

"That's why there are no pictures of me! You thought I was DEAD!"

"Hey Vi, calm down"

"Pah! As if 'Hope springs eternal! We never gave up hope!'" Violet imitated their father, who had said something similar three days ago in the hospital.

"Yeah, sure! You never gave up the hope that I was dead! How nice of you! That way you could all go back to living your perfect little lives, completely undisturbed by me!" She sobbed in despair.

"Pipe down! Do you think we just put you away, Violet? We searched for you for seven years, without any progress! And do you think that life just went on afterwards? I'm sorry, Violet, but you have NO IDEA what happened!"

Now Dash's eyes also filled with tears as the memories of darker times returned.

"You can't imagine what we have been through! Or more importantly, what Mom and Dad have been through ..."

That was too much. Violet's knees gave in and she collapsed to the floor, covering her face with her hands and crying bitterly.

Dash stooped down to her and picked her up gently. He didn't have his father's strength, but he was still stronger than the average man.

He sat down on the sofa, placed Violet in his lap, and stroked her head soothingly.

"I'm sorry. I was just so ..." Vi sobbed.

"It's okay. I imagine that this must have been pretty shocking for you. We wanted to tell you later ..."  
Vi calmed down a bit.

"What was in the coffin?" she asked after a pause.

"What?"

"In the coffin ... what was in it?"

"Oh, a few personal things ... flowers, photos, your favorite CDs ..."

"Don't tell me you buried my autographed Jonas Brothers CDs?" Vi had to laugh and cry simultaneously. Dash smiled.

"I wrote a letter"

"Really? What was it about?"

"That - wherever you are, you are hopefully doing well, and ... that I hoped that you come back one day ... and so ..."

"Well, now I'm back" she said, calming down once again.

"And hopefully it will stay that way" Dash added, giving her a kiss on the forehead. He grinned and hugged her once again.

"So, I have to leave now. I'll be back again this evening. You'll be alright?"

"Yes" Vi said, smiling, "As alright as someone stranded in the future can be" she added, wiping away the last tear with her sleeves.

************************************************

While Dash was away, Violet went into Emely's room, nestling down in the bed.

She pondered about everything.

It had been selfish of her to believe that she was the only victim here. On the contrary, she hadn't seen the hardships that her family had to experience all these years.

Why was it so difficult? Why couldn't she simply be happy to be alive and reunited with her family?

She glanced out of the round window. The weather was just like it had been the last few days: wonderful. Did it ever rain in the future?  
The beautiful weather and the pink color of the walls made it almost insane...

Suddenly, she heard an argument in the living room. Vi could hardly hear it from the bed, so she went to the door cautiously.

"What are you going to do?" She heard Flame ask.

"I want to show her our baby photos..." Emely replied.

"Are you crazy? Put it back!"

"No! Why?"

"What just happened was already enough... You can't just rub everything she missed out on in her face like this!" Flame tried to explain to her energetic sister.

"She has a right to know! I would be glad if someone told me all the things that I've missed..."

"Emely, put ... it ...back!" Flame growled. Vi realized that she had never heard Flame use Emely's full name before. She must be really angry with her sister, Violet thought.

"Don't you understand? She should have been able to witness it all. I don't think it would make her happy if you show her all these memories that she can't share" Flame said, sounding a little bit more motherly. Violet agreed with her.

Then she heard nothing more, so she laid back on bed.

Her thoughts wandered, and she was still confused.

...What was all that she had missed out on?...

What was Tony doing now?

What would she have done if Dash was the one who had disappeared, instead of her?

How would her family have been able to cope with that?

Her family. They must have been through a lot because of her. And yet each of them had managed to get on with their lives and make something of themselves.

Slowly, Vi recognized that it was not a betrayal of her, but a remarkable achievement of her family.

Keep moving forward ...

It was a good thing that they had stuck with this motto.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Emely stuck her head into the room cautiously.

"Haha! I've never knocked on my own door before" she laughed. As she came in the room, Violet saw that she was holding a flowered photo album in her hands. Apparently she decided not to listen to what her big sister said.

"I wanted to show you something... if you want" she said, standing in the doorway shyly.

Vi sighed. She knew it probably wasn't a good idea, and that it would upset her again, but she didn't want to send the girl away.

She smiled and patted a spot on the bed next to her. Emely grinned and jumped up on the bed.

Vi hadn't seen this photo album yet. It started out with pictures of Dash and Sybille's wedding at the top of the Mount Everest, along with pictures of the two of them climbing, skydiving and motorcycling.

"And that's the opening of our shop" Emely exclaimed proudly, pointing to a photo of Dash and Sybille standing in front of an empty shop.

"And that's Flame"

Vi didn't understand what she meant, until Emely pointed to Sybille's slightly bulging stomach.

Emely turned the page. It was the usual: baby photos, holiday photos, and so on. One shot caught Violet's attention - it was unbelievable, and almost irresponsible. Sybille was smiling into the camera, while climbing up a rock wall with little Flame strapped to her back.

"And that's the new house" Emely giggled. Violet didn't understand entirely. The house in the photo looked totally different than their house now. Emely flipped a page.

"Oh my God!" Violet gasped. Several photos dotted the page - photos of firemen standing in front of their house, which was completely engulfed in flames. On the next page, there was picture of Dash, putting his first born daughter to bed with fire-proof gloves.

"Was it ... I mean ... did she ...?" Violet didn't know exactly what to say. Then, she paused. She heard footsteps in the corridor.

Vi saw Flame pass by Emely's room, throwing a casual glance through the open door. Then she stopped and came back.

Flame sighed and entered the room looking slightly embarrassed.

Vi smiled back knowingly.

"M, didn't I just tell you to-"

"I showed her the pictures of the house" Emely grinned. Flame blushed slightly, and as she did, the temperature in the room became two degrees hotter.

"I ... um, had a fever. They didn't know, at least not until I ... well ..."

Apparently, this was still embarrassing for her, even today - many years later. She sighed and sat down next to Vi.

"That's why we have a fireproof house now" Emely exclaimed loudly.

Flame leaned closer to Violet, whispering loud enough for her sister to hear.

"If she bothers you, just tell her. Chances are, she'll be so offended that she'll just leave automatically."

Emely heard her sister's comment, but she continued with a smirk.

"Violet, look here! Flame's first day of school! Haha, look! She's missing her two front teeth! And look at her hair! And that ugly dress! Ew!"

"Oh yeah? Shall I show her the pictures of your performance in the third grade?"

Emely immediately decided to change the subject.

"Uh ... look here, Flame, do you remember? That was time when we had termites, and our apartment had to be smoked out.

"Now, don't try to change the subject" Flame teased, snatching the album out of her sister's hands.

"No!" Emely cried, grabbing the album and trying to pull it away from Flame. In the struggle, a photo flew out and landed on Vi's lap, without the others realizing picked it up; it was a picture of Dash and his family on a hike. They stood smiling in front of a magnificent mountain landscape. It was a family. It was Dash's family. And she had suddenly arrived - like an intruder. She didn't belong here; she didn't even knew these people. It was as if they were strangers to her.

"It was so..." Flame began.

"No, Flame! Stop it!" Emely cried. But Flame went on to tease her sister.

"She got her dress tangled up, and when she started to run off the stage, she got it snagged on the..." Flame stopped and became silent.

She saw how Vi was staring at the photograph, and how her eyes were filling with tears.

She brushed past Emely, who had no idea what was going on, and gave her a glare.

Then Flame gently put her arm around Vi.

"Vi, we haven't known each other for very long, and we don't know much about you - well, actually, we know nothing about you... and you don't know much about us, but..." Flame paused. She didn't know what to say in such a situation. But then her gaze fell on the photograph that Vi still held in her trembling hands.

"Officially, I guess we are sort of like your cousins, but now that you're a part of our family, I guess we're sort of like sisters. And even if you do not know us, you should know that you can always come to us at any time. If you aren't feeling well or if you want to talk ... well, what are families for, right?"

"Okay" Vi said finally, choking back tears. She didn't want to cry again.

Flame swept Vi's blue-black hair from her face and smiled at her. She smiled back, but couldn't prevent a small tear from rolling down her check. Flame wiped it away with her sleeve.

"Do you want ice cream?" She asked suddenly.

"Oh yes!" Emely shouted excitedly.

"Shut up, M!" She turned to Vi, "Well, what about you?"

Violet was a little surprised by the question, but she nodded.

Contrary to what Violet had thought, they wouldn't have to leave the house and go to an ice cream stand. Apparently, almost every kitchen in the future had an ice cream maker.

So they sat together in the kitchen, everyone eating their favorite flavor, and they talked about everything under the sun. Violet still had a lot of questions, but Emely and Flame assured her: they had just as many questions for her.


	12. Chapter 11

Wilbur Robinson hated walking home.

Even though it was a wonderful day in TodayLand, he was still in a bad mood.

The unfortunate incident with the "Bowler Hat Guy" had happened only three weeks ago. Wilbur shuddered, remembering how their bright future had almost been transformed into the horrific vision of a revenge obsessed hat, only because he'd forgot to lock the garage door.

Not only that, but Carl's bike had been stolen too.

As a punishment, Wilbur wasn't only grounded, but also had to let Carl use his bike. This meant that Wilbur would have to walk the whole way to school and the whole way back.

And that really irritated him.

Aside from that, life for the Robinsons went on as usual. Cornelius' "secret project" had apparently succeeded. Last week, he came home happily, eager to once again start working on ideas for new inventions.

Wilbur sighed. It was boring to walk home, especially since there was no one he could talk to.

With a sigh, he decided that he'd have take the bus tomorrow. Frustrated, he kicked a stone along the ground and tried to think of something to pass the time.

Then, an idea crossed his mind.

The Captain Future marathon was only two weeks away. From Friday evening until Sunday afternoon, all the episodes of his favorite tv series would be aired, even the lost episode 127B.

Captain Future was his hero. He could fly, had the coolest super suit, and had everything else a super hero like him had. He traveled through time and space, protecting the weak against the dark forces of evil.

Wilbur knew exactly how he would celebrate this marathon - with nineteen and a half bottles of Coke, twenty-one packages of chips, and sixteen bags of popcorn.

Wilbur's imagination suddenly got the best of him. He was no longer on his miserable, boring way home, but on another planet!

He pointed his hand as if it was gun, aiming at mailboxes ... no, not mailboxes, but Shmorks! Evil, hungry Shmorks! The zombie Shmorks from Season Two. And he was Future Boy, Captain Future's sidekick.

Captain Future had been caught in an insidious trap, and Future Boy was the only one who could save him! The fate of the universe depended solely on him.

Jumping and flipping from one hiding spot to the next, Wilbur glanced around furtively, making sure he would not be discovered by the Shmorks. Just then, one of the Shmorks opened fire. Wilbur ducked quickly; they had found him! Now they would have to face Future Boy's wrath! He would -

Wilbur froze in the middle of his movement - squatting, with his hand stretched ahead like a pistol. Slowly fading back into reality, he stared at a pair of feet directly in front of him.

His gaze wandered slowly upwards. Blue jeans, blue sweater, and blue-black hair covering one half of a pale, but feminine face. Only one of her deep blue eyes was visible.

The girl looking back down at him seemed distanced and slightly irritated.

How long had she been standing there and watching him?

Wilbur gulped.

At that moment, something happened that had never, ever happened before.

For the first time in his entire life Wilbur Robinson was...

...completely speechless.

His face suddenly felt very hot, and his ears felt as if they were burning.

He desperately searched for words in his brain, but he couldn't think a one single word he could say. He jumped up in panic, but lost his balance. Stumbling slightly, he passed her without a uttering a single word of explanation for his odd behavior.

Sweat formed on his forehead. As he turned, he felt her gaze on his back and forced himself not to run away.

The way home didn't seem so long anymore. Before he realized it, Wilbur arrived home.

Once the door was closed, he ran up to his room. After tossing his backpack into a corner, and riding the lift up to the second floor of his room, he threw himself on his bed in frustration.

After a while, Carl came along.

"Everything okay, buddy?"

"Mmmph ..." Wilbur mumbled.

"You looking forward to the Captain Future Marathon?" Carl asked, and began to hum the theme music.

"I hate Captain Future," Wilbur muttered into his pillow. After all, it was his Captain Future obsession that had caused this embarrassing situation to begin with.

Carl gasped, shocked to hear his little buddy say something like that.

"But why? What's wrong with you?" he asked in disbelief.

"Nothing," Wilbur grumbled. He didn't want to talk about it.

"Is it because you don't have a bike, and you have to go all the way to school on foot?"

Wilbur didn't respond.

"Well, you can have your bike back. I don't want you coming home in such a lousy mood every day, okay?"

Wilbur really wanted to tell his robotic friend that the bike had nothing to do with it, but if he did, he would then have to talk about his embarrassing experience, and he wanted to avoid that.

"Okay," he said finally. That was better than the truth.


	13. Chapter 12

Dear readers! I hope you don't mind the lack of romance and pink fluffy smoochy stuff. I'm not THAT kind of story teller ;-) I hope you have fun anyway and keep on reading! Thanks for your support!

**********************************************************

The strange boy moved away with hasty steps ... Vi threw a glance after him...  
Were all people in the future so strange?  
Anyway, at least now she already knew one neighbor...

A flying vehicle floated up, extended wheels and landed – or rather parked, directly in front of her.  
Vi opened the door and sat next to Sybille.

"Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem." Sybille said happily, but Violet believed that her sister-in-law seemed a little stressed.

"I'm in a hurry, so we'll leave the road."

Vi gulped.

"You mean ... fly?"

Sybille patted Vi's leg in order to calm her down (although this didn't particularly work well).

"If you feel queasy, just say so."

"O-okay." Violet said hesitantly.

They took off and arranged in the traffic above the city.

Flying in a small vehicle was problematic for a lot of people who weren't accustomed to it.... but not for Violet. She thought it was great! During the whole flight she stuck with her face on the window. The view was fantastic. From the bottom TodayLand already looked great, but from here it was absolutely breathtaking!  
Violet was a little disappointed that the flight ended already after such a short time.

Sybille landed the car in front of a large, bright building, the Todayland High School. Flame and Emely were already waiting outside.

"Thanks for bringing me." said Violet when she got out of the car. Sybille smiled and waved her daughters.

"Till this evening." she cried, before she started again and flew to the editorial.

For the first time Violet was in the city since her re-awakening and still felt a little insecure. Unlike most of the people here, she was dressed dark, had folded her arms and hunched up her shoulders.

"She really looks like she's from the past," Flame thought, as she went over to her aunt.

"Hello Vi." she greeted with a waved.

"Hi Vi!" Emely said. Then she burst out laughing.

"That was a rhyme!"

"Wow, I'm sure she never heard that one before!" Flame said sarcastically.

Violet gave a shy smile. Then Flame put her hands on Violet's shoulders.

"Relax! We'll show you everything, so you're prepared for tomorrow!"

They showed her the school, her class, her locker and other important rooms, while Flame told her the most important things. However, Emely constantly talked in between, because she believed her big sister would hold back important information for Violet. So the two talked more or less simultaneously and after a short time Violet was saturated with information.

In the cafeteria Violet was impressed by the floating trays. Emely had her fun and threw an open milk carton across the room. Violet actually expected that Flame would scold with Emely. But just before the milk landed on the floor, a tray floated automatically to catch it.  
That was a practical invention, Vi thought.

The last things they showed her were the gym, the pool, the astronaut training area and the basin for the pearl diver course... and the library.  
The library didn't belong to the High School, but it was close to it and Flame thought it would be a good idea to show it to Violet (what was just daft in Emely's opinion).

It turned out that this library couldn't be compared with those from Violet's time. From here, you had access to the information resources of the entire human civilization. You could read books or view files in the whole world via computer.

Violet was impressed. She would've liked to stay longer to research, what exactly happened on this evening 32 years ago, but Emely became crotchety and Flame obviously didn't want to stay no longer than necessary in here, so Violet decided to go home with them.  
But she would come back.

The next morning.  
The first day of school ... again. Her parents had called in the morning and wished Violet good luck.  
She needed no luck. Violet had moved so often in her childhood that she was already accustomed to this procedure. However ...

... She had to admit that she was a little afraid to make a fool of herself because a lot of things in this world were still strange and eerie. Things which were quite common for her school mates.

Things like a floating school bus.  
Even before she entered, Vi had the feeling that she already had disgraced herself. Before the bus was approaching, Emely had called:

"There's the bus!"

Violet had looked down the road, and wondered whether something was wrong with her eyes because she saw no bus.  
Suddenly a big, yellow flying object landed with a loud hissing right in front of them.  
Vi had took a deep breath and entered.

~*~*~*~*~*~

In the same moment in the interior of the bus Pete Shingleton tried to convince his friend Wilbur to accompany him to the scout meeting in two weeks.

"Why don't you come with me?" Pete asked his buddy Wilbur now for the thousandth time.

"I told you, I can't!"

"Why not?" Pete insisted.

"Captain Future!"

"This TV series?"

"THE TV series!"

"But Wilbur... the scout weekend is much better!"

"Nothing is better than Captain Future! I won't come with you, forget it. For weeks I waited for this weekend and it's finally here!" cried Wilbur and gesticulated theatrically with his arms.

"Girls will come as well," said Pete with his gigolo-grin and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh wow... Girls! In that case I will, of course, NOT come with you! What's wrong with you? No means -" Wilbur suddenly froze.

"Morning" Violet greeted friendly the strange boy who she had met yesterday.

"Morning..." Pete said finally, because Wilbur looked away and stared out the window. The dark-haired beauty went further.

"What's up?" asked Pete when she was away.

"Is she gone?" asked Wilbur without taking his eyes from the window.

"Who?"

"Well, that - that girl ...!"

"Do you know her?" Pete asked curiously.

"No!" said Wilbur fending, as if it was something terrible. Then his voice suddenly became a whisper. "Did she see me?"

Pete shook his head incredulously. His buddy behaved really strange today ... even more strange than usual!

"Wilbur! She said 'Morning' to you!"

"... Oh man ..."

"That's cool ..." Pete said and shrugged. He couldn't imagine what could be so horrible of being greeted by a pretty girl.  
Wilbur looked carefully backwards between the seats to check whether the strange girl could hear them.

"And she doesn't look too bad ..." Pete added after a pause. Perhaps Wilbur didn't even noticed that she was very pretty.

"Shut up, Pete!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Afterwards, Violet was glad that Flame and Emely had shown her everything yesterday. It was a big crowd on the floor, and if she hadn't known the way to her class already, she would've surely come too late.  
Violet had been downgraded one class because she had missed a lot of things in the last 32 years.  
That in turn meant that she probably was the oldest in the class.  
Through the window in the door, she saw that the lesson hadn't begun yet. Her new classmates still dawdled and fooled around.  
She stood in front of the classroom and took a deep breath. She was not really nervous, she had been through this procedure countless times.  
She went again through the official version in her mind, a ritual that she had accustomed long ago.  
Violet Parr... 14 ... currently lives with her uncle and his family... is from Aklavik, Alaska...  
"Gosh, I've had better wrong identities." she thought.  
Then she entered and sat down at the next open place.

"Wilbur! You're breaking my arm!"

"What is she doing here?"

Pete shook off Wilbur's panic grip and rubbed his aching arm.

"Are you crazy...?! Who anyway?"

Wilbur had sat down on his place and held his geography book in front of his face...  
Then Pete discovered the dark-haired girl from the bus. He remembered that their teacher had said that they would get a new classmate today.  
That must be her. She sat two rows ahead with her back to them.

"So, if I wouldn't know it better, I would think you're hiding from her..."

"Oh, nonsense..."

"And since when are you so interested geography?" Pete teased.

"Since always! That... runs in the family!"

"Oh ... and you're so delved into your reading that you don't even realize that you hold the book upside down?"

Wilbur looked up to his friend, who gave him a knowing grin.

"What is wrong with you? You don't have a crush on her, do you?" Pete asked curiously. Wilbur stared at him in full horror; all color in his face had diminished. Before he could say something, the teacher started the lesson.  
Wilbur took a deep breath.  
That couldn't be true! Now this girl was in his class! He would have to see her every day!  
She surely thought he was an idiot!

"Before we begin, I have an announcement," said the teacher.

"I've already told you that we would get a new class mate today. But on short notice, we are welcoming two new faces in this class." with a wink she called Violet and another girl to the front.

The other girl seemed to feel very uncomfortable in this situation. She had neck long, curly blonde hair and freckles. However, those couldn't be seen because she had lowered her head and stared at her feet. Violet wrinkled her nose, when she thought that a few years ago (okay, actually it was a lot of years ago) she had stood just like this in front of a new class as well.

"Class, this is Elizabeth Beckett and this is Violet Parr. Do you want to say anything else about you?"

Elizabeth shook her head jerkily without looking up.

"Well, my name is Violet Parr, I'm 14 years old, my hobbies are listening to music, shopping and hanging out with friends." Violet rattled off ... She had done this so often, that it was completely automatically.  
But she regretted to have said anything a few moments later. What if the others started talking about bands and musicians? She didn't know a single one! And she also had no single friend at the moment...  
The teacher sent them back to their places and then started with the lesson.

"The two look very nice ... If the blonde would have only lifted her head..." said Pete.

"Who?" said Wilbur, who hid behind his book the whole time so that the dark-haired girl couldn't see him. When he noticed that she no longer stood in front of the class, but sat with her back to him again, he laid the book and took a deep breath.

"Wilbur! I want to know now what's going on!"

"And I want to train for the moon, but you have to be 16 for this," said Wilbur annoyed. He didn't even wanted to begin to talk with Pete about this issue. Pete was somewhat precocious, or however it called. Since a few months he was only interested in girls ...  
That was extremely getting on Wilbur's nerves.

"You have been staring at her all the time!"

"How can you know? That would mean, that you've stared at me the whole time! And that is pretty weird."

They were in a queue in the cafeteria. Wilbur didn't even hold his tray. It floated in front of him, and if it went further, he push it a little.

"Why should I do that, that would be complete nonsense..." he added after a pause.

"There she is..." Pete said soberly.

Wilbur immediately jerked around and looked in the direction, only to realize a moment later that he completely fell for his friend's line. Pete laughed.

"Complete nonsense..." he repeated, laughing.

"Ha ha ha! Very funny, you comedian!" Wilbur was irritated. The canteen robot just put some food on his tray.

"I met her yesterday on the way home and ... well ... I pretty much made a fool out of myself."

"So what? That's nothing new ..." Pete said and shrugged.

"Oh, no idea ..."

Why did he behave like idiot?  
Because he disgraced himself... well, Wilbur Robinson disgraced himself pretty often, even infront of a larger audience .... But that didn't change the fact that he was one of the most popular pupils.  
Why was he actually worried? He was popular, had a lot of friends... there was nothing and nobody that he had to fear... least of all... a girl.  
He took his tray and turned around to go to his table when he suddenly --

"Ouch," cried Violet. Wilbur just bumped into her when he turned around. Violet turned and swept the hair from her face.

"Hello ..." she said surprised, when she saw who had bumped into her.

Wilbur stared at her - only one word in his mind.... "No!"  
Then he went without saying a word, as if she was air.

Violet looked at him...

She didn't know exactly why.... But this boy seemed to have something against her... First he ignored her in the bus, and now he didn't even deem necessary to apologize, or at least to greet back...

It rang. Finally school was over.  
Wilbur took the walk home, rather than riding the bus along with her.

What the heck was going on with him?  
"Bla bla bla, my hobbies are listening music, shopping and hanging out with friends..." he imitated Violet and kicked a stone frustrated.

"Girls ..." he said, almost disgusted. That was a problem area with which he didn't have the slightest clue. Sure, the phase of putting frogs into a girl's shirt or sticking chewing gum in the hair, he had left behind long ago. But he didn't believe that it was normal to take flight in panic of a girl.  
He kicked against the stone again.  
His mother could certainly help him .... On the other hand, teenagers don't like to talk with their parents about what bothers them. That was ... embarrassing.  
Suddenly, something cool hit him on the forehead.

"Oh no! That's not cool!" he cried angrily. Around him more and more wet spots appeared on the ground, and increasingly, he was hit by the drops.  
Frustrated Wilbur stood still and stared at the ground exasperatedly, while the rain was getting worse and thunder started to rumble in the distance.  
The last days had been so nice weather that he forgot to take a jacket with him today. After a short time he was completely soaked.

"If I stand still long enough, I'll get sick and don't have to go to school tomorrow." he thought briefly. The plan wasn't so bad, except that he had to be fit for the Captain Future marathon...

He groaned annoyed and dragged further.

~*~*~*~*~*~

What Wilbur didn't know: Violet didn't take the bus home. She had told Flame during the lunch break that she wanted to go to the library to catch up the knowledge of the past years as soon as possible. Flame was surprised.

"Do you know the way home alone?" she asked. Violet could tell from the look on her face that Flame didn't have the slightest desire to accompany her and spend hours in the library while waiting.

"No problem. I simply take the monorail to the Greenway station and then I continue on foot." said Vi, who kept the way in mind from yesterday.

"If you take the bubbles you save time ..." Flame considered.

"Well..." Vi said hesitantly. She didn't know how she should say it, but these weird bubble things seemed simply too suspect.

"It's okay!" Flame laughed and patted her on the shoulder. "I will tell Dad that you'll come home later."

After school Violet ran directly across the street to the library.  
But once she was inside, she wished that Flame had accompanied her. She had shown her the library, but not how these Information Cells worked.  
Countless of these computer-like devices were arranged in regular intervals on large tables in the whole library.  
There were of course masses of real books, magazines and newspapers. They filled the12-meter-high shelves, which lined the aisles of the library. But every single copy was also available in digital form, so most people preferred the ICs.

Violet was a little helpless. She sat down at one of these devices.  
In front of her stood a little - to the sides shielded screen. The display showed the front page of the library. Violet looked down. There was a keyboard but no mouse. She looked around a little lost in the library.

Then she saw a blue button with a stylized mouth on it. She pressed the button and it immediately started to glow brightly.

"Can I help you?" she suddenly heard a voice say. Vi was shocked and turned around, but nobody stood in her immediate vicinity.

"My name is Timothy. Do you need help?" asked the voice again.

Violet looked confused and a little skeptical on the screen.

"Miss?"

"Uhm - uhm, yes! I need help ... "said Vi finally after she awakened from her rigour.

"What are you looking for?" asked the computer.

Violet was – as a former super heroine - a little suspicious about artificial intelligence, so she decided to hide her real requests.

"I ... uhm ... should ... write a paper for school ..."

"What subject?"

"Einstein?"

Suddenly countless links and pictures about Einstein appeared on the screen.

"There is a large selection about this issue. Would you like me to help you, or can you cope with it?"

Violet stared at the patchwork of different texts, books and articles. When she would really write a paper, she would have been completely overwhelmed now.

"Uhm ... how do I search for myself?"

"Type in the specific words with the keyboard"

"Okay ... and then?" Vi had to realize that she was completely helpless without a computer mouse.

"Just a click of the displayed article," said the computer. Wouldn't Violet know that it was only a machine, she would have believed that the computer would slowly become impatient with her.

"Click?" she asked confused and bent down under the table. Perhaps the mouse dropped down.  
Suddenly the computer sighed. Vi drove up.

"On the screen, dear..." said Timothy, the computer. Seemingly Violet just behaved extremely stupid.

"Oh, yes of course ..." said Violet embarrassed.

"You haven't done this so often yet, could it be?"

"Actually, never ..." Violet admitted, "but I think I can handle it now..."

"Wonderful. If you need me, just press the blue button"

"Uhm, thank you ... Timothy ..." Violet said hesitantly. She found it a bit ludicrous to communicate with a machine in this way.  
The blue button turned off again.

Then Violet touched the search field and typed in her own name.


	14. Chapter 13

On one hand Vi was scared, but on the other hand relieved about how much information could be accessed.  
About herself she found school grades, old class photos and newspaper articles. Of these she only read the headlines:

"14-year-old girl disappeared."

"Where is Violet P.?"

"Still no progress in the case of Violet P."

On the photo she wore a hair-band and smiled into the camera.  
That was creepy. Violet got a very strange feeling.  
Rain began to crackle against the large windows of the library and a muffled rumbling thunder was heard.

She typed in a different search term: Tony Rydinger.  
It took a while before she found the right one. He was now 47 and manager of an airport. On a photo he posed in collar and tie.  
Wow ... that was even creepier.  
Violet bit her fingernails.  
He was soo old. He still looked nice, but not as good as before ...

She shook her head. Actually she was here for a completely different reason.  
She gave in the date of her disappearance.  
A lot of newspaper articles appeared. Violet refined the search to Metroville.  
Nothing ... at least nothing about a gigantic laser cannon or a destroyed building.  
Only a power outage ... and a mysterious plane crash.  
Violet opened this article, not because she thought it had something to do with her case, but just out of interest ... It didn't happen too often that three jet fighter crashed in Metroville.

"... The reason for this tragic accident can't be determined yet. After investigations of the black box of all three jets, a failure of the electronics can not be excluded... "

"Sure, with all three at the same time ..." said Vi, and closed the article again.

Then she remembered something important.  
The large yellow "C" of the building ... Cobra.  
She gave in this name, and of course millions of articles about snakes appeared first.  
Jack had said that after this incident nobody would have ever heard about him again...

"... At least not with that name ..." Violet whispered. She felt that she was on a track of a mystery.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the library closes in half an hour..." came an announcement over loudspeakers.  
It was already half past five? Then she had sat here for hours! Hopefully Dash didn't worry.  
No matter. She had still half an hour for today...  
Hectically she started a search for company names from the former city, which began with C. Of which there were a lot, and Violet couldn't refine the search because she didn't know what actually had been fabricated "officially" in this building.  
So she looked at the company logos for a big yellow C. But without success. This cost her about 15 minutes. She already wanted to give up and go home when she had an idea.

Vi pressed the blue button.

"How can I help you?"  
"I need a satellite image of this area from 2005 ..."

The desired material appeared on the screen.

"And what about Einstein?"

"Not so important ..." murmured Violet. She pressed a finger on what she considered as the industrial park of Metroville. It was immediately enlarged.  
Violet closed her eyes and put her hand on the forehead.

"... I moved off with the bike at the Parkers..." she whispered in thought, and followed the route with her finger on the touchscreen.

"Then it flashed ...." Violet stayed with her finger at the place where she first had stopped too look up in the sky.

"The library closes in five minutes." The voice droned from the loudspeakers.

No! She was so close!

"Can I help?"

"Sssh!"

She had to concentrate. She followed the road through the industrial park. Then she smacked her forehead.

"I'm so stupid! Timothy, is there a satellite image from this area shortly after this date?"

A new satellite image appeared and after a short time Vi found what she was looking for.

She pressed her finger on a terrain on which only a pile of rubble was visible.  
A small newspaper article appeared, with a photo, on which some onlookers and photographers stood in front of the ruins. The date showed that the report was in the newspaper three days after her disappearance, so she hadn't seen it before.

"... The mysterious circumstances that resulted in the breakdown of the main building of Robac Industries on Wednesday night are still unknown..."

Robac Industries?  
Violet got doubts ...

"Do you want me to find more about this topic?"

"If you could show me everything about Robac Industries." Violet responded quickly.

Many articles appeared, including a picture with the company logo ...

"That's it ..." Violet whispered and stared fascinated at the screen. Her heart beat faster.

The logo had a white lettering, only the C at the end of Robac was bigger and highlighted in yellow.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the library closes now. Please proceed to the exits."

Violet cursed and grabbed her stuff.  
But she had made progress.

She would find out what had happened to the responsible persons on this evening...

When she arrived home, she was tormented with the thought of whether she should tell Dash about her researches... Vi didn't believe that she could lie to his face when he asked what she had done all day.  
But Dash didn't ask.  
Finally Flame had told him that Violet had been catching up about the recent historical events. Why should he think something else?

She wasn't totally happy with it, but for now she kept her secret.


	15. Chapter 14

The next few days were pure torture for Wilbur. At school, he tried to evade Violet as best as he could. Pete was still teasing him about it, but it slowly started to annoy him.

"Will you knock it off?!" Pete exclaimed suddenly.

"I'm not doing anything!" Wilbur said defensively, tapping his fork against his tray. For a few days now, he had no appetite. Maybe he was getting sick.

He squinted at one of the other tables on the other side of the cafeteria. There she sat... alone.

Since their last meeting, she had also started to ignore him, which was just all right with him... at least he believed that. Actually, he didn't know whether that was good or not. He knew nothing anymore. He was just annoyed and frustrated.

"You're doing it again!"

"What?"

"You're staring at her!"

"Nonsense," said Wilbur. But it didn't sound very convincing. He bent over his lunch tray, and pretended to eat.

But then he looked at her again.

"Wilbur!"

"What? I just think it's stupid to read during your lunch break. That is really stupid!"

Pete frowned and looked over to Violet. She sat at a table near the window, highly concentrated on the book in her hand.

"Really," Pete had to admit, "She's really reading and learning! Then she's probably a little nerd!"

He turned back to Wilbur, and groaned in annoyance. Wilbur was staring at that girl again, completely lost in thought. He hadn't even noticed what Pete had just said. Pete waved his hand impatiently in front of Wilbur's eyes. Wilbur jerked, as if he had just awaken from a daydream.

"Did you just say something?" Wilbur asked confusedly.

"Oh man, buddy! You're worse than me," Pete laughed, picking up his tray and bringing it away. "Perhaps you do have a crush on her!" Pete laughed as he left.

Shocked, Wilbur dropped his fork and stared after his friend horrified. Then he shifted his gaze back to the dark-haired girl.

A crush? Then he wouldn't be trying to avoid her, would he? If he did have crush on her, then he would like her. But that wasn't the case! Absolutely not!

Or was it ...?

Violet's lunch was slowly getting cold.

In the last few days, she had found out more information, and started to keep a small notebook for whenever she found out something new. Again and again, she reviewed her researches, coming a little closer to the truth each time. She knew that she was close, but she overlooked something - a little detail.

She scrolled back to the page about Christian Robac.

Christian Robac was the founder of Robac Industries, a company that had been involved in some dubious businesses.

During her research, she came across a very familiar name: Syndrome.

Robac had grown up in an orphanage and met Buddy Pine at the school he attended. Both were young geniuses, and they went to the same college later. Both were skilled and could have been gifted scientists. But both of them dropped out of college and started their own plans. Later, Robac's company supplied the equipment needed for Syndrome's mad inventions.

Aside from that, Robac Industries was dedicated to the exploration of new technologies such as laser technology and alternative energy sources. They used Syndrome's results in robotics to construct robots and power amplifiers.

But one day, Robac simply disappeared. His car was found in a nearby river, and he was pronounced dead. Some years later, he appeared again. This time, he was arrested for embezzlement of company funds and tax evasion, and was released a year ago. But that didn't explain why he had been in jail for such a long time.

Twenty five years. You couldn't be locked up for that long for tax evasion.

Violet was still missing the connection - the connection to that fateful evening which froze her in a capsule for thirty years. Apparently, Robac had nothing to do with anything. But for some reason, Violet still believed that Robac was important somehow.

She sighed tiredly, leaning back in her chair. The constant and monotonous noise in the cafeteria was making her drowsy. Robinson Junior and his buddy had just left the cafeteria. How ironic that, of all people, it was the her rescuer's son that had decided to hate her.

"What an arrogant, priggish -"

She sighed, opening her notebook again to take her mind off the unfriendly thoughts that Wilbur Robinson aroused in her.

She accidentally scrolled one page too far - back to her memories of all that had happened the evening she was frozen. She let the page fall back to deal with Robac again.

At that moment, it became clear to her. Her heart suddenly began to pound!

Hastily, she scrolled back. And forth. And back again. She couldn't believe that she had overlooked this! It was so obvious!

Coincidentally, the words Robac and Cobra were written at the same place. All that changed while she flipped back and forth was the order of the letters.

Violet quickly grabbed a pen in her pocket, and she wrote on a new page: "ROBAC"

Directly on top of that, she wrote: "COBRA"

It matched!

"ROBAC = COBRA!" She wrote below in bold letters, and stared at these words, utterly stunned at her discovery.

"Hello."

Violet jerked her head around and shut the notebook.

"Oh, sorry ... I didn't meant to frighten you."

Elizabeth Beckett, the timid girl who was also new to the school, sat down at the table. Vi suppressed an annoyed groan. Why was it that newbies always tried to hang out with other newbies? And why did she appear right now, just when Violet was making progress with her investigations?

Elizabeth realized Violet's annoyed glance.

"Is it okay with you if I sit here?" she asked hesitantly.

Her cautious behavior irritated Vi even more, as well as her extremely shy nature and the way she constantly kept her head lowered.

"I'm busy," Vi said quietly. It wasn't a demand for Elizabeth to go, but it should have indicated that she had no intention to start a conversation with this girl.

"Okay. What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked, pulling out a sandwich.

But instead of giving an answer, Vi gave her a pained smile.

"Listen, I know that it's easier to annoy other newbies first, because they know nobody else as well. But I'm really busy right now. So ..." Vi took her things and stood up. Elizabeth looked up at her confusedly.

Vi wanted to add something, but she only shrugged. She left the cafeteria, with a disappointed Elizabeth glancing back at her.

Vi didn't feel sorry. She had more important things to worry about. For the rest of the day, she could barely concentrate on her schoolwork.

Cobra was Robac, and Robac was on the loose since one year. And he surely had a lot of other crimes committed than tax evasion.

Violet was powerless against the deep unease that overcame her with these thoughts.

* * *

_Perhaps you do have a crush on her..._

Pete's words in the cafeteria echoed in Wilbur's ears. For the rest of the day, it floated above his head like an angry storm cloud, throwing a dark shadow over him. And no matter how hard he tried to think or to focus on something else, it just didn't want to leave his mind.

When school was finally over, he couldn't remember one single thing about his classes. Apart from the fact that he wasn't able to think straight, he was actually a very smart student.

Even the way home was an ordeal. He was so absentminded that he nearly knocked himself over a couple of times, not to mention the number of people that he accidentally bumped into because he didn't really noticed them.

He even forgot to go to his favorite comic book shop on the way home.

So, if being in love was like THIS, then he could really live without it. It was terrible It was like a disease! You almost suffered from it...

* * *

Dr. Morita didn't really realize how it happened.

As usual, he had driven into the parking area of the large laboratory complex, Invention and Exploration of New Technologies of Robinsons Inc, and had parked the car near the secured main entrance.

Suddenly, he passed out.

He woke up twenty minutes later, realizing he was too late for the meeting he had with a team of experts, who were dealing with Robinson's latest invention.

Thankfully, nothing serious had happened, but Morita was still worried. He cancelled all of his meetings and took a taxi to the doctor.

A person couldn't just lose consciousness like that. What if it had happened during the car ride? He could have hurt or even killed not only himself, but also others

But the doctor found nothing. He suspected that Morita was suffering from stress, and therefore advised him to take a vacation and relax.

Morita wasn't particularly happy, but he took three days off. After realizing he was still in best of health and had no more fainting attack, Morita concluded that it must have been an isolated incident.

* * *

Violet was wearing only a towel when she left the bathroom. Suddenly, she stopped in the hallway.

In the middle of the hallway, stood what appeared to be the Pink Power Ranger.

"M! C'mon, you'll be late!" Dash cried impatiently from downstairs.

"I'm coming!"

The Pink Power Ranger, who sounded a lot like Emely, shouted back and ran down the stairs.

Puzzled, Violet stared after her. She stood at the top and dried her long blue-black hair.

"We'll be gone for a while, but we'll be back tonight " Dash shouted up to her. Then he left with Emely.

The door behind Violet opened and Flame came out of her room, a sports bag over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Vi. You'll probably be spending the afternoon alone. Mom has been called away for a project... and Dad's got some business at the sports store to attend to."

"And M?"

"Motocross training," she replied.

"Wow ..." Violet murmured. She was impressed - not so much by the sport - but rather by the completely pink clothing and armor.

"Biker Barbie," she thought amusedly.

"And what about you?" she asked Flame finally.

"Boxing. You can come along with me, especially if you like to see small weeping girls," Flame said jokingly, and threw a few air punches in Violet's direction.

"Well... no. Maybe later," she said with a sigh.

"Are you going to the library again? You're becoming a real bookworm "

"Well, I still need to catch up on a lot," Violet said, her face becoming serious. Flame had no idea what secret Violet was hiding.

"Can't you taste your food, Wilbur? Aren't you hungry?" Franny asked concernedly, when she noticed that her son has left his dinner completely untouched.

"Mom, I'm sick," Wilbur said sniveling, even though he obviously wasn't sick. His mother would surely see through his act - as she always did when he tried to play hooky from school - but it was worth a shot.

Franny actually knew he was faking, but she had also noticed that her son was suffering from a loss of appetite, and that he had been quite melancholy for a few days.

"Maybe he has the flu," Tallulah said.

"Or an intestinal infection," Aunt Petunia cried.

"Or athlete's foot," Buck exclaimed.

"Perhaps it would be better if you stay home tomorrow," Franny said affectionately. She was aware that her son wasn't really sick, but she knew that teenagers didn't need to be physically sick to feel lousy.

Wilbur looked at her in surprise.

It had worked? Yes, it had worked! It was one of his most pathetic acting performances, but it had worked!

* * *

"Excuse me, but you don't have access to these files," the friendly computer voice said to Violet. This time it wasn't Timothy, but a woman's voice named Clarissa.

Violet sighed. She simply couldn't find any reason why Robac had been behind bars for twenty-five years. All the useful files were inaccessible.

"Isn't there any information that's not classified?" Violet asked in annoyance.

"Yes," the voice replied.

Violet frowned.

"I've been sitting here for an hour now. Couldn't you have said something sooner?"

"You didn't ask..."

Violet groaned, leaned back in her chair, and shook her head in annoyance. She liked Timothy a lot more. He was helpful at least.

"Okay, so I'm asking now. Can you show me some unclassified documents about this case?"

Some articles appeared, including a few newspaper reports, press releases, company statements from Robac Industries and -

"The verdict? Clarissa, didn't I ask you an eternity ago for information about Robac's criminal case?"

"..."

Machines, computers and robots in this time were provided with a personality.  
And somehow, Violet had the feeling that although Clarissa had a nice voice, she actually was pretty hollow.

Violet shrugged resignedly and began to read...

It was terrible. The full extent of Robac's mad genius became obvious. And the thought that he was still alive, but couldn't be found, wasn't very comforting.

Gruesome discoveries had been made when financial experts searched his offices and storage depots.

Robac had killed about fifty test persons during illegal experiments. Unsuprisingly, most of his experiments dealt with cryostasis. In addition, he also dealt with illegal cloning experiments and stem cell research.

The judge referred, among other things, to a report confirming that Robac was psychopathic. He was obsessed with the idea of eternal life and had an unhealthy desire for power and control.  
He was intelligent and dangerous.

It seemed that his defense council had done a proper job. According to them, it initially wasn't Robac's intention to kill these people, because from his point of view, there wasn't any risks. As for clones, who had perished miserably, he allegedly knew nothing.

But after the report appeared, the jury considered him to be mentally unstable. And because of that, Robac had escaped the maximum penalty.

Violet put her hand on her mouth.

Then she typed in a new search term.

"Cornelius Robinson ..."

His biography somewhat resembled Robac's. He also grew up in an orphanage, and achieved extraordinary goals very early in life.

But besides that, there seemed to be no relation between these two.

Violet had been in the future long enough to know who Cornelius Robinson was, and it seemed to her that he wasn't involved in the smallest criminal intrigue.

Violet found nothing in the police files, except for a few break-ins at several Robinson Industries buildings by rival companies... and the theft of...

"A time machine?" Violet cried incredulously.

* * *

After lunch, Wilbur was bored, so he sulked around in his room.

His thoughts constantly wandered away. Whenever he wanted to focus on his comics, the image of her face appeared in his mind.

He had even made a habit of taking a different way home from school – though it was a longer route, all so that he wouldn't have to pass the house where he'd met her for the first time.

Wilbur had to distract himself somehow.

He waited until it was dark, then after wishing his parents a good night, he went noisily down the hall in direction of his room. They would think that he had gone to bed.

Taking a stack of comics and a flashlight, he sneaked carefully out the back entrance, around the house, and into the garage.

He didn't dare to use one of the tubes, because sometimes you would come out at a different place than you expected.

Wilbur crept into the garage. When he entered, he pulled the door closed, but it didn't shut all the way.

He climbed into the time machine, nestled into the back seat, and just stared at the ceiling for a while. Just when his thoughts drifted to her again, he switched on the flashlight, snapped open a comic, and delved into a different world.

Just then, the garage door slowly swung open with a squeak.

Wilbur bit on his lip. It was exactly because of this that his existence had been recently almost wiped out... only because he didn't close the garage door properly.

But he didn't really want to get up and close it.

He was right here, and he would keep an eye on it, so what could happen?

He focused back on the story.

This time, the hero would finally beat up the final boss. The final battle! It was exciting... really exciting! Especially because it was one of the few comics that Wilbur Robinson didn't know by heart yet.

But after about fifteen pages later, the story started to take a course that Wilbur absolutely didn't like - a romance developed between the princess of the planet and the hero.

He had tried to take his mind off of live, so he'd taken the only comic that he didn't know, and now this had to happen!  
Wilbur groaned in annoyance, pushing the comic to his face.

Now, he'd probably never find out how the final battle ended. Wilbur growled in frustration.

Then his thoughts wandered away again...

What should he say to her?

He would have to impress her with something cool ...

* * *

"Help! Help! Somebody help me " Violet cried desperately.

She was chained to a metal plate, which was connected to some strange machines. Her wrists and ankles were tied with metal bonds, and she could hardly move.

Her pretty blue eyes were full of fear.

The mad scientist laughed cruelly. "Haha! Now my brilliant plan will be complete!" he shouted triumphantly, turning on the machine.

Suddenly, a window broke open and a bright light entered the room.

"Stop!"

"What is this?" cried the confused scientist, blinking into the light. Only a dark silhouette was visible.

And before the mad scientist was able to realize what had actually happened, he was already knocked out by a well placed hit to the neck. He collapsed to the ground.

Wilbur switched the machines off. Then he went over to release Violet.

"Wilbur!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with joy, and tears running down her cheeks.

When the bonds were opened, she slipped right into his arms.

"Did he hurt you? Are you okay?" Wilbur asked immediately.

"I'm okay," she sobbed in relief, wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"No big deal," he replied cooly, and returned her embrace.

"Oh, Wilbur I've been wanting to tell you something for quite some time" she said suddenly, sweeping her hair out of her face with a cute move of her hand.

"What?" A cushy warmth began to full his body.

"Well, I wanted to tell you... that I..." she began hesitating.

Wilbur smiled when he saw that she was blushing.

But suddenly, her expression changed completely. She looked at him with the same expression that she had on their first meeting. Then she gave a mocking smile and patted his cheek comfortingly.

"Of course. This is sooo realistic," she said sarcastically.

Wilbur jerked when he awoke, pulling the comic book from his face.

"What a crazy dream " he thought, more or less horrified, and pulled at his hair

"Oh my God! That was more than clear... This can't be true!"

He looked at the open page of the comic, which had been laying on his face the whole time.

"No, princess Palomé. I can not love you back"

"But Captain Galaxy! If you follow your heart and be honest to yourself, you'll know that deep inside of you, you still love me!"

Wilbur barely finished reading the speech bubble when he threw the comic out of the time machine.

Why were even his comics ganging up on him now?

"What nonsense " Frustrated, he folded his arms and sulked.

Maybe he should apologize to her ... but why ...?

Actually, he had done nothing. But, on the other hand, wasn't that the problem? He had done absolutely nothing, he hadn't even greeted her in the last few days. He had persistently ignored her.

He should apologize...

But ... what if she wouldn't accept it?

What if she believed he was in -...?

Or what if she fell in love with him?

And what if she would not fall in love with him?

Was that good?

Or not?

Wilbur sighed in despair and stretched out on the back seat again.

There was no immediate solution to that problem. This whole thing was just too complicated.  
And that's when he decided to do the only thing he could: dispose this problem of once and for all.

He ignored it.

He grabbed a different comic (one of which he knew that contained no slushy romance), and forced himself NOT to think about Violet Parr.

* * *

Alpha 6-35 ...

Sixth cycle, test 35, generation Alpha.

The only survivor of the generation Alpha.

He entered the I.E.T. building utterly emotionless. He had no feelings. The only thing close to a feeling that was the satisfaction he felt when he successfully accomplished his master's commands.

He was a clone - a creation of his master, created in his own image.  
But he wasn't just a copy. He was modified and improved in some areas.

Alpha had knocked out Morita inconspicuously, and had copied his knowledge via telepathy into his own mind.

Then, he had taken Morita's key card and passed through the main entrance of the building.

With the help of his telepathic abilities, he could enter the building without attracting too much of the guard's attention.

The two guards were just eating their breakfast in front of the TV. With his telepathic forces, he projected an image into their minds, so that they were actually seeing an illusion. For the two guards, it looked as if Dr. Morita had entered the building.

"Good morning, Dr. Morita," one of the them greeted, and the other gave a friendly wave.

"Good morning, Frank, Billy. How's Susan?"

Alpha had copied the names from Morita's memory. He stopped in front of the security guards to address them.

"She's pretty good, Dr."

"Very nice. I need to go. I have still a lot of things to do," Alpha said, looking directly into the two guard's faces.

"Well, Dr. We'll ....see ... you -"

Suddenly, the guard's eyes became empty, and they looked dully into Alpha's face. He had hypnotized them and deleted their memory of the conversation. When they awoke, they wouldn't be able to remember that they just saw him.

Alpha continued his path through the wide, bright corridor. In the background, he could hear the guards regain consciousness.

"Hey, why did you switch position?"

"I didn't switch "

Alpha rode the elevator a few floors down. It was early in the morning, so there was nobody here yet. Most of the laboratories and meeting rooms were still dark.

Alpha had all the necessary access codes from Morita's memory. Therefore, he could freely go from one security area to the next.

It was only a matter of minutes before he reached the storage he was looking for.

Admission was only possible with the individual access code.

Alpha pulled out Morita's key card, and held it in front of a small lens next to the door. A green light flashed on and the big door glided aside and revealed a dark, windowless room.  
Alpha hesitated. His usual, perfect sovereignty began to crumble. Morita's information only led him up to here, but now his guide ended. Morita had no knowledge of what Alpha was to be looking for.

Alpha hesitantly entered the dark room. Once he stepped on the floor, he switched the lights on.

A gigantic room was revealed. Countless fragile shelves and platforms were filled with appliances, boxes, components, and materials of any kind. On a large table stood a heavy, conical lead container, with a "Caution Radiation " emblem on it.

Carefully, Alpha took out a device attached on his belt, and put it on the container. It adhered to there and gave a shrill beep, that echoed from within the walls of the warehouse.

The progress bar flashed on, and filled slowly... too slow. The lead of the container had to be fairly thick.

For many minutes, Alpha 6-35 stood motionless while he stared at the progress bar. He could've looked around, or at least thought about something, but he didn't. He had only one goal in mind – to execute his master's plan.

"Hey What are you doing there?"

Alpha jerked around. In the door of the storeroom stood a guard with a flashlight in his hand.  
Why didn't Alpha anticipate his presence?

The security guard pulled out his gun. "Hands up Now "

It was too late. It would be useless to project Morita's image into the guard's mind. Alpha slowly lifted his arms.

His skills were still not fully developed - that's why he hadn't felt the guard's approach, and that's why he also couldn't knock him out right now. He was simply too far away.

But he felt neither anger nor regret about it. That would be, of course, if he had feelings to begin with.

The guard pointed the gun at him and came closer.

"On the floor " the guard shouted.

Suddenly, the device beeped again. Then the top of the container opened with a hiss and liquid nitrogen poured out. From inside the container gleamed a light green glow.

The security guard - who was closer now - stared at the container in shock.

Alpha had to use this moment when the guard's attention was diverted.

He focused all his telepathic energy, literally overwhelming the guard's mind. He dropped his gun and froze, capable of nothing more than a silent scream.

Alpha 6-35 stood up slowly, giving the security guard a distanced glance. Then, he turned to the open container.

Although the container was approximately fifty centimeters in diameter, the inside had just enough space for a hand. Alpha put on a glove and grabbed for the deep frozen content. When he withdrew his hand, he held a glowing green crystal in it.

It had appeared only a few days ago and was stored in this warehouse until its investigation.

Carefully, Alpha put the crystal in a special box on his belt. From the same box, he retrieved another crystal, similar to the first in shape and color - except that this one wasn't glowing - and put it into the big lead container.

After he closed it again and the device was inserted, he turned to the guard, who still stood motionless infront of him.

The whole thing had taken longer than planned. If Morita woke up before Alpha was out of here, then he would have a problem.

But the guard could be very useful to him.

Alpha stepped close to him, looking directly into his blank eyes for quite a few moments.

With his highest concentration, Alpha 6-35 sent detailed instructions into the guard's mind - instructions, which he wouldn't remember.

Suddenly, the guard moved. He arranged his hat and picked up his weapon, without noticing Alpha's presence. Then he slowly, but purposefully, stepped - like a sleepwalker - into the monitoring room and wiped out all recordings of the surveillance cameras, where Alpha was seen.

Meanwhile, no one noticed when the clone Alpha 6-35 left the building through a side exit.

He put the key card back into Dr. Morita's pocket. Morita was still unconscious in his car, and was still totally unaware of what had taken place.

Then, the clone disappeared.

His master would be very pleased. Phase one of the plan was successfully executed.


	16. Chapter 15

In the evening - it was already dark - Violet had formed a plan.

"I think I'll crash early, tonight..." she said, feigning tiredness.

"You don't want to see the movie?" Sybille asked. Violet handed her the dishes from dinner, which she had just cleared away.

"No, I would fall asleep anyway..." she managed to give a halfway convincing yawn.

"I'm so tired ... it was a draining day today ..."

"Okay" Sybille smiled gently, "Then... sleep well!"

"What's on today anyway?" Violet heard Dash say in the living room. She decided to wish them a good night too. She couldn't risk that someone came into her room later and found out that she wasn't there.

"The old remake of the remake of Superman Part 4," said Emely just as Violet entered the living room.

"Superman? He's a nobody! Your Grandpa! THAT was a super hero" said Dash.

"Shh! It begins! Good night Vi!" Emely cried.

"Night Vi!" Dash and Flame said simultaneously.

"Good night!"

Slowly, apparently exhausted, Violet went upstairs.  
Once she had closed the door of Emely's room behind her, she began to become more hectic.

She arranged Emely's bed with pillows and plushies, so that it looked as if she would sleep below the blanket.

Then she grabbed her backpack and opened the window.

"Perhaps you don't remember, but the last time you dared to try a solo attempt, it ended in a catastrophe," declared her common sense.

"So it can hardly get worse" she thought, and climbed out.  
She landed noisily in Sybille's rose bushes at the front side of the house. Violet clenched her teeth. If someone caught her, she needed a pretty good excuse.

Carefully she peered through the kitchen window.  
Nobody was there. Apparently, all of them set in the living room now. Fine.  
On tiptoe Violet sneaked off - when suddenly a small robotic dog ran to her and barked.

"Pssht! Pssht! Good dog! It's only me!" Violet whispered through her clenched teeth.  
The robot sniffed at her (at least it appeared like that) and then lumbered leisurely back to his doghouse.  
Rooted to the spot Violet stood still and observed the house.  
But everything remained quiet - apparently no one had noticed anything.  
Violet snuck further and she didn't dare breathe before she was out of sight of the house.

The Robinson residence was not very far away, about 10 minutes on foot.  
Violet had found out that the time machine was stored at a top secret location. The only way to come to this information was to tap in Cornelius Robinson's personal computer.  
After she had left the library completely bewildered, she had taken her old dress before the others returned from their activities.

She would just sneak in invisible, get the information about the location of the time machine and then disappear again.

But after a while she doubted whether her plan was a good idea...  
What if it went wrong?  
Wasn't she one of the good guys?  
Was she justified to break into her savior's house?  
She stopped, ready to turn around and go home again.  
However, there was a chance that she could prevent the accident 32 years ago...  
Suddenly, one thought pushed all doubts away: Tony... she could see him again ... and she would embrace her parents, cuddle her baby-brother Jack Jack and could have fun with her little brother again!

Carefully she approached the Robinson's Mansion and evaluated it from the outside.  
She didn't trust her eyes. No dogs, no cameras, no robots.  
It seemed to be true what her family had said about the decline of the crime rate. Even the richest family of TodayLand didn't consider necessary to protect their property.

In search of an entry, she sneaked past the front door and suddenly heard -...

... snoring from the flower pots?

She didn't even wanted to know what this was about and headshaking she went further.  
The future was just crazy.  
She wanted to go home.

Behind the house, Violet got a shock. A weak beam of light fell through a slightly opened door.  
Reflexive she froze and became invisible (which was absurd, because she still wore her normal clothes over her suit).  
She observed the door for a while until she was sure that nobody was around.  
Then she carefully sneaked through the door and looked around.

THAT was a garage!  
And nobody was around...  
Vi shook her head in disbelief. If she would have been a burglar, then an open garage door would have been the biggest invitation.

Violet held off from the strange tubes. They gave the same suspect impression like the transport bubbles.

She just wanted to take her normal clothes off to sneak out into the interior of the house, when she suddenly noticed something.

"He hides it in his garage?" Vi thought with disbelief. She could hardly trust her eyes.

It stood in a corner of the garage... the Time Machine.

Carefully, she went to the little red Time Machine. It was smaller than Violet imagined from the pictures she had seen.  
The vehicle was not secured, nowhere, even the hatch was open!  
Slowly she leaned on the driver's side and studied the armatures.  
There were a lot of switches and levers, buttons for years, months, weeks, days, hours, even minutes and control pedals for setting height and speed.  
Actually it was quite well-arranged.  
Carefully she slipped in the driver's seat.

*******************

Wilbur heard a kind of hydraulic noise, but couldn't say whether he was just dreaming or if he really heard it. Anyway, he simply continued snoozing with a comic on his face. While reading he fallen asleep once again on the backseat of the Time Machine.  
Suddenly the time machine began to move ... but that was impossible. It had to be a dream.  
Wilbur frowned dozily, took the comic from his face and looked around.

She sat in the driver's seat of Time Machine...

"Oh, what was her name? Ah,Violet Parr.... Wait! Oh no! Now I'm dreaming of her again!" Wilbur thought annoyed.

He sat up and shook his head.  
Half surprised he noticed that they were no longer in the garage, but floated through the black night sky of TodayLand.  
And Violet flew the Time Machine ....  
That was a strange dream. Even more strange than the last one!  
Wilbur leaned a little forward in order to have a better view of the time table.

"To the past?" he thought confused.... This dream made absolutely no sense.

"What are you doing?" he asked casually.

Violet Parr got the shock of her life! Scared to death she tore on the steering wheel. The time machine made a heavy jump. Wilbur was hurled forward and smacked his head on the dashboard. That hurt ... that really hurt!

"Oh no! That's NO dream!"

For a moment the two just stared at each other stunned and appalled.

"Where the heck did he come from?" Violet thought in panic.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Wilbur thought shocked.

Suddenly bright ectoplasm started to glow around the Time Machine.  
The time jump was imminent!

Wilbur awoke first from the trance and grabbed the steering wheel out of Violet's hands. Whatever she had planned, he had to prevent it!  
The Time Machine suddenly tilted dangerously to the side.  
Wilbur tried to counter steer, but the girl thrust aside roughly. Wilbur was thrown against the dashboard again.

He wanted to struggle, but -

Suddenly a flash of light! Unhindered, the Time Machine rushed into a glistening light! Wilbur mistook it as the sun.  
Too late he noticed that it was only the reflection of sun on a lake!  
Everything happened so fast!  
Even before one of them could realize what was going on, they were already spun through the Time Machine by the crash.  
The vehicle was slowed abruptly by the water.

It took a few moments, until the two struggled on their feet again and recovered their breath.

"Are you crazy!? Did you wanted to kill us, or what? Do you think-" Wilbur began breathlessly.

"That wouldn't happen if you hadn't-" Violet suddenly fell silent.

"If I hadn't done what? YOU have tried to steal the Time Machine! You can spend the rest of your life in jail!"

But in response Violet only pointed outside, pale as a sheet.

Wilbur turned around.

The time machine was just about to sink in the lake of TodayLand! The greenish water was already up to half of the window and through a gap water rushed in suddenly.... plenty of water .... and fast!  
Within a few moments they stood up to the ankles in cold water.

"Great! I'm barely awake one minute and now I have to drown?!"

"Shut up! We need to get out of here! "

"That's only YOUR fault!"

"Now open the hatch!" Violet shouted annoyed.

The water reached up to their knees now.

Wilbur bent to the dashboard, but hesitated to press the button. The Time Machine was now completely sunk and more and more water soaked into the cab.

"What are you waiting for?"  
Slowly Violet started to panic. She doubted that her force field could save her from drowning.

"My beautiful comics!"

"I can't believe it!" cried Violet.

"Hold your breath!" she added, threw herself over the dashboard and pressed the button.

The hatch opened with a hissing noise and masses of dark, cold water flowed around them.


	17. Chapter 16

After more than an hour, Wilbur Robinson finally finished styling his hair.

He stood in front of the large mirror in his bathroom, carefully pulling a T-shirt over his head and his muscular body, trying not to ruin his hair style.

Afterwards, just to make sure not one hair was out of place, he combed it again for about ten minutes.

Meanwhile, he was humming the song, which blasted from the speakers of his stereo in almost deafening volume. The song was about a young guy who was so sexy that all women were at his feet. Wilbur smirked. This song was made for him.

But all of a sudden, the music turned off. Wilbur paused. Then, the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" suddenly erupted from the speakers. Wilbur almost went deaf

He stormed out of his bathroom.

His little sister Wilma was jumping up and down on the couch in his room, screaming the lyrics to the song at the top of her lungs.

And she was wearing his brand new football helmet

Wilbur almost exploded. This kid knew that she wasn't allowed to come into his room, let alone touch his stuff

But just as he was about to start shouting, an idea came to his mind. Wilma was so distracted, that she hadn't noticed him come out of the bathroom. So he grabbed his red jacket and his car keys, and he crept out silently.

Once in the corridor, he began to run. He had to hurry He decided not to take the tubes, however, because he didn't want to ruin his hair.

Suddenly, a small bundle shot out from a tube above him, landing directly in front of his feet. Wilbur almost stepped on her.

"Wilma! Watch out! My new shoes!"

"Look, Wilbur! I'm a Quarterback, too" Wilma announced, struggling to her feet, with Wilbur's football helmet still on her small head.

"No, you're not! And if that helmet gets a single scratch on it, I will be so ticked off at you! Got it? "

Nodding silently, his four-year-old sister carefully took the helmet off her head. She had the same black hair like Wilbur, and the same cowlick. The only difference was the little pigtails behind her ears.  
"Where are you going?" she asked, looking up at him with her big, dark-brown eyes.

Wilbur groaned in annoyance.

"Nowhere," he said, continuing on his way without paying attention to the little girl, who trotting along beside him, trying to keep up.

"May I come with you?" Wilma asked, panting and tripping along behind him.

"No!"

Suddenly, he heard a disturbing noise behind him, echoing off the corridor's walls. Wilbur tensed his broad shoulders and turned around, his teeth grinding furiously.

Wilma stood a few steps behind him, staring down at his helmet, which was rolling around on the floor. Then, she looked up at her brother with wide eyes.

"You dropped it!" Wilbur stomped over to her like an angry bull.

"I'm sorry!"

"You dropped MY helmet!!"

Wilma crept over to the helmet, picking it up hastily.

"There's no scratch on it," she said, trying to appease her brother, but as soon as the words had left her mouth, she noticed a huge scratch stretching across the left side of the helmet.

"Oops..."

Wilbur would've really liked to strangle his sister. He clenched his fists, trying to keep his temper.

"Now, you'll bring it back to my room! You will put it exactly where you found it! You won't touch anything, and then you'll never, ever enter my room again! Is that clear?!"

"And then, may I come with you?" Wilma asked hopefully.

Wilbur drooped his shoulders and smacked his forehead. This little kid just didn't get it.

"Okay," he sighed, "but only if you hurry "

"Okay " she cried happily, running back to the transport tube and disappearing.  
Now was Wilbur's chance! He ran down the hallway. He needed to leave, as long as he could. Otherwise, he would have to take the little girl along, and would have to play the babysitter again. How he hated that.

Perhaps things would've been different, if somebody had asked for his opinion about a sibling a few years ago.

Of course, he would have objected... which was probably the reason why nobody had asked him in the first place. But, if no one was interested in his opinion, then why should he be the one taking care of the child?

Who had cared for him since that time? All of the sudden, everyone only had "cute little Wilma" on their minds.

And the worst part was, no matter how insufferable he was to her, she would always trot along behind him, everywhere he went.

Now, he almost reached the front door He had to get out of there, before ...

"Can you take Wilma with you, Sweetie?"

Wilbur winced at his mother's voice. That was the exact thing he wanted to avoid.

"But Mooooom ...." he groaned grudgingly.

Suddenly, a loud hissing noise traveled over their heads, and Wilma tumbled out of a transport tube a few feet in front of them.

"Wilbur! Wilbur! Wait for me!" she cried happily, running to her brother and hugging his leg. Wilbur rolled his eyes in irritation.

"There you are ... finally ... how nice..."

"I have to go to our final orchestra rehearsal, and Carl still needs to do a few things before the ball begins. What important things do you have to do?" Franny asked her son.

"Mom, I have a date!"

"Now? But the ball doesn't begin until tonight."

"Yeah ... but I still have to get my suit from the dry cleaners, buy flowers, invite her out for ice cream... Wilbur said desperately, gesturing wildly with his hands.

"Oh yes! Ice cream!" Wilma exclaimed.

"Pipe down, squirt!"

Wilbur bit his lip. His mother didn't like it when he snapped at his sister. And she promptly punished him by giving her severe gaze. Nevertheless, he tried his luck.

"Mom, a little sister isn't very useful on a date"

"I'm useful! Can I come with you? Please..." Wilma begged, gripping tightly on Wilbur's leg. But Wilbur ignored her. He surveyed his mother hopefully; she gazed at him skeptically.

"Oh, whatever." Wilbur finally moaned, giving in.

So, there it was. He'd play the babysitter again. He'd pick up his suit, load Wilma up with ice cream and then bring her back here. Of course, he didn't imagine that his day would go like this, but ... that was the way things went if you had a little annoying sister.

He left the house, with Wilma still clinging to his leg.

"Do you like it down there?" Wilbur asked annoyedly.

"Yeeeaaaahhh "

"Great ... and once again, it seems like I have no choice..." he muttered in annoyance, so low that Franny couldn't hear him (and he absolutely didn't care whether or not Wilma had heard him).

Franny stood in the entrance of the giant mansion, watching in amusement as her completely annoyed first-born son and her happy little daughter went along to the cream-colored vintage car standing in the driveway.

Maybe it really wasn't fair to unload his little sister on him again. He had to look after her quite often lately. And a young man of his age obviously would have other interests than babysitting.

"Okay," she sighed, smiling as she walked down the stairs, "Wilma, let your brother go."

"But I'm going with him " Wilma said determinedly. Wilbur stopped, shooting his mother a thankful glance.

"I've got a better idea! You can come with me! " Franny said enthusiastically.

"But I want to go with Wilbur " she pouted.

"Do you know when you'll be back?" Franny asked her son.  
Wilbur began to grin. "Well, it's impossible to tell."

Franny rolled her eyes and smiled. "Oh dear, may I at least know who your date is?"

"Um... Lucy Duncan. Any comments?"

"Lucy Duncan? I thought you would go with -"

Wilbur interrupted his mother by waving his hands in front of her face.

"How shall I put this? You didn't want to ask any questions about my relationship stuff, didn't you?"

"Honey, I am your mother. I MUST ask you, otherwise I would be carelessly neglecting my motherly duties!" Franny said jokingly.

"Motherly duties? Okay, how about this motherly duty: can you take that," Wilbur pointed to his sister, "off my leg?"

"Okay. Come on Wilma. Ooff, you getting heavy "

"Thanks Mom. You know, I do enjoy being the babysitter. But on a date, she's somewha - Aaah!"

Wilbur suddenly lost balance and fell painfully to the ground.

"Wilbur! Oh dear, are you hurt?" Franny asked worriedly.

Wilbur lifted his head up, sputtering, "What the...?"

"Mommy, look! I can already make great loops!" Wilma said proudly. Wilbur looked down to his shoes. The laces were neatly tied together.

"Oh, Wilma! How many times do I have to tell you not to annoy your brother?" Franny scolded, bringing Wilma back into the house.

"I just made a loop," Wilbur heard his little sister say, while he crouched on the ground and untangled his shoelaces.

"Oh yeah? And that has nothing to do with me falling?!" He shouted angrily, but the door was already closed, so no one could hear him.

"And how about helping me up? Nobody ever thinks of - oh no! My clothes!" he muttered in annoyance.  
He wiped the dirt off as best as he could, and then got in his 1959 Cadillac cabriolet, where he once again had to fix his hair (taking more than five minutes to do so). Then, he took his designer sunglasses from the glove compartment and started the motor.

On the road, he slowly began to relax again. Finally, he was rid of his annoying sister, and could enjoy the day now. And at the wheel of his Cadillac - the 'Lady Crema'- he quickly forgot all of his worries.

He had lovingly refurbished the car himself, until it looked almost as handsome as he did.  
The paint was cream-colored (hence the name), the leather seat covers were a dark wine red, the interior design was made of polished cherry wood, and all the metal parts were chromed. Of course, it was also equipped with real white sidewall tires.

Wilbur had even managed to obtain an old-fashioned combustion engine.

Thus, his car was probably the only one within a hundred-mile radius that produced emissions.  
And the best part: all the girls loved his car!

Well ... all except one.

Wilbur angrily smacked the leathern steering wheel. He had to go and think about her again! He had managed to keep her off his mind for two days (close to a new record), and now this had to happen!

Without thinking about it, he automatically turned and took a detour into the city. He had formed this habit a long time ago, and if someone asked why he drove the longer way, he usually replied: "Less traffic."

Although that wasn't true. He actually took the detour to avoid passing her house. But he would never admit that.

He would also never admit that she was probably the only one around whom he couldn't utter a single word. Somehow, he totally lost control when she was around. Although he didn't have a clue why.

The reality was this: he couldn't bear Violet Parr as much as she couldn't bear him!

* * *

4 Years Ago.

Since Carl couldn't find his little buddy in his room, he suspected that Wilbur was in the garage again. Recently, he would 'hide' in there more often than he had before.  
Carl was a little worried about Wilbur. If he had a problem which he couldn't talk about with his parents, maybe Carl could do something for him.

But what Carl discovered in the garage – or rather NOT discovered – threw him for a loop.

He gasped when he saw that the time machine was gone.

And when he discovered that the sunroof was open, he gave a hectic shriek.

But when he noticed that the garage door was open too, he started to cry out in pure panic!

"Not again! Not again!" he screamed, running back into the house.


	18. Chapter 17

It was a beautiful day in TodayLand.  
And what could be better to do on a day like today, than shopping?  
Violet Parr and her best friend, Elizabeth Beckett, were on a journey through all the fashion boutiques of the city in order to find THE dress.  
You couldn't show up in some random dress on the Robinson Ball, which took place annually.  
The young women had been out for a long time and they hadn't found THE dress yet, but were already packed with a lot of bags and boxes. Shoes, makeup, jewelry, skirts, trousers, shirts and more ... You could never have enough clothes in the closet (though if it was already bursting at the seams).  
They stood on a moving sidewalk and moved leisurely through the bustle of the city, when Liz suddenly pointed at a fantastically colored and designed building with giant oval windows.

"We haven't been there yet! And they have a great collection of dresses"

"Then let's go!" exclaimed Violet.

They somehow made it off the moving sidewalk without dropping some of their load and went into the large store.  
It took forever for them to reach the next floor, because on the way they discovered hundreds of clothes they liked.

Finally in the section for evening dresses arrived, they put down their bags and cartons, and looked around.

Violet found nothing she liked enough to try it on. All the dresses here were too brassy  
and banal ... ... just too ordinary!  
She had to look grandiose tonight! All girls should go green with envy.  
If she had to go alone – she just broke up with this guy, what-was-his-name? – then every guy should melt away in front of her! They should be speechless! They should gasp for air! And those to whom she showed disinterest should lose all will to live!

"Violet! You're so evil today!" she thought, and laughed up her sleeve.

Suddenly she heard a cheer.

"Vi! Come here! I found it!" cried Liz, who stood a little further away.

Violet went over to her, and already on the way she began to grit her teeth with envy.

"Look! Isn't that awesome?" said Liz and held the dress against her perfectly built body.

Vi gulped. She would have chosen exactly the same dress! When she'd only discovered it first!  
It was a knee-long, tight-fitting bodice, rockabilly dress, with a wide petticoat under it. It was strapless and had a heart shaped neckline. It was damn sexy and with her giftedly perfect figure Liz would just look fantastic with it!

And ...

...it was red ...

RED! The color of love! The sexy color! How could she just decide for this dress! And then in red!  
This meant that Vi didn't only had to pass on the best dress but also couldn't wear something red, because her best friend already did!

"Not bad ..." Vi said soberly and tried not to dissemble. She knew Liz. When her friend noticed that Vi wanted the dress, she would give it to her immediately.  
Vi played with the thought to take advantage of her friend's good nature, finally Liz already had a boyfriend and didn't need to pull or rebuff somebody.

"Not bad? It's awesome!"

"The neckline is pretty plunging... don't you think that you'll look ... well... too provocative?" Violet tried to talk her friend's dress down.

"First I'll try it on." Liz said calmly. "I'll be in the changing room"

"Okay! I'm going to keep looking around." Vi said when her friend left.

"Stupid cow..." she added bitterly when Liz was out of earshot.  
Violet's mood was devastated. Her whole concept was completely messed up all of a sudden. And just because Miss Perfect wanted to look like a strawberry candy! That was a disaster!  
Vi wanted to wear something red!  
Sexy and unreachable for mere mortals, she wanted to appear at the ball and attract everybody's attention.  
She could forget about that now!  
The day was down the drain...

Unmotivated, she went through the ranks and looked here and there for a dress, but nothing pleased her anymore, though some very nice dresses were among them.  
It served no purpose! She was in love the red candy dress, that her friend was just trying on.  
Just as Vi thought the day couldn't be worse, she found something that attracted her interest.

Actually Vi hadn't payed attention to it, but for some reason she stopped and took the dress from the hanger.

"A mini-dress?" she said nearly disdainfully, because something like that actually didn't suit her taste. In her opinion it was something for ... pit babes and Ring Girls.  
It was gray-blue, and short. Far too simple, too ordinary for such a special occasion. But because she wouldn't find something better than her friend's dress, she took it along to the changing rooms.

"How's it looking?" Vi asked, as she went over the changing room where Liz was in.

"Uhm ... I'm still fighting with the zipper..."

"What's up with the robot?" Vi asked.  
In the dressing rooms of the future, there were robots installed that helped to try on clothes with their amazing extension arms. A very practical invention, that Violet had learned to appreciate on her frequent shopping trips.

"This one is broken."

"Do you need help?"

"Nah, it's okay, but thank you," Liz answered.

"I wouldn't help you anyway, nasty thief!" Violet thought annoyed and made a grimace when she passed Liz' cabin.

Then she went into the cabin next to it and tried on the mini dress.

"Vi! I think I'm in love! This is awesome! Come and take a look!" she heard Liz' excited voice.

"Wait a sec!" cried Violet, and tried not to sound as annoyed as she really was.

After the try-on-robot closed the zip of her dress, she turned around and looked into the mirror.  
Her jaw dropped.

The dress ... was ... perfect!  
It had a gray-blue colour, but a silver shimmer gave it the certain something. Because it was dark, her eyes looked a lot brighter!  
And although it was very short and closely cut, it wasn't too provocative.  
It was sexy, cool ... and unapproachable! And she already knew exactly which shoes she would wear to it!  
The day was saved!

"That's it ..." Violet whispered enthusiastically. Then she stormed out of the cabin.

Liz stood in front of a giant mirror, which extended over the entire height of the shopping centre and was admiring her dress. But when she saw Violet, her eyes widened.  
Violets envy was blown away!  
Then the usual palaver began... They overwhelmed each other with compliments, how good they looked, and then they discussed accessories, shoes, makeup and hair styles.

Violet went to another mirror right next to the changing rooms. In doing so she stood close to one of the giant windows, and could look down on the street. But she didn't pay attention to the bustle. She put her hair up with one hand, and the other akimbo and looked into the mirror.

"Hey Liz! Pined up or down?"

"Let's see..." Liz put a hand to her chin and pondered, while Vi let her long, wavy hair drop over her shoulders and then held it up again.

"Both looks good ..."

"I agree with that... but I can't wear both..."

"We should let decide Antoine," Liz said finally.  
Antoine was their make-up artist and was also responsible for manicure and hairstyles.

"I've got a much bigger problem. I don't know what shoes to wear! Although I have this red ones, but when I want to dance the heels are way too high, and my flats simply don't fit to the dress. We've just saw those black shoes in the other mall - if they would have them in red-"

Violet wasn't listening to her friend anymore. Her attention was attracted by a cream-coloured object, which she saw from the corner of her eye.  
She didn't want to look, but she did it anyway. Nearly 15 meter below her Junior Robinson parked his swanky car in front of the laundry and went inside.

Violet would never admit, but Junior was also a reason why she wanted to look especially good tonight.  
So this self-important idiot could see what he would never ever get.  
She would also never admit, that it hurt her feelings, that he had never gave her a chance...  
From the first moment on he had simply ignored her. For some reason, he couldn't stand her, though he didn't know her at all! That showed Vi that he had to be a superficial and priggish jerk. Conceited and arrogant! The typical offspring of the richest family in the City!

And how he always drove around with this exaggeratedly pimped up car, each time a different girl on the passenger seat, always wearing these stupid sunglasses... he was tremendously getting on Violet's nerves...

The situation did escalate three years ago, when she was here for one year. They should be debating in English classes, but even though she and Junior had been in the same group, they couldn't stop fighting continuously. It even got so worse that the teacher had to intervene and separate them...  
Since then, she tried to avoid him. And if their ways crossed, they had mostly no kind words for each other.

Juniors parties - to which everybody was invited - have always been the worst. Vi didn't go there as a matter of principle. Why should she go to a party of somebody who couldn't stand her?  
These were the weekends where everybody celebrated in the Robinson Villa while Vi had oh-so-much-fun spending her time alone at home.  
Anyway, since six months ago, the situation was simply awful, because Liz and Junior's best friend Pete Shingleton were a couple.

This led to those unpleasant meetings when the four met in town by chance...  
While Liz and Pete were talking, Junior and Vi stood unresponsively beside them and ignored each other until one of them "remembered" to settle a matter and left. Horrible...

Not to mention school... It wasn't easy to evade somebody when you went in the same class.  
Violet suddenly startled from her thoughts and behold her displeased face in the mirror.  
Perhaps she should better wear her hair down...  
"What did you say?" she asked Liz.

"Wilbur is down there! He's fetching his tuxedo from the dry cleaners..."

"Oh wow... Junior gets his tux from the dry cleaners... Who's cares!"

"He certainly looks fantastic wearing a tux..." Liz languished dreamy.

"Ahem... Hello? You have a boyfriend?" Vi said stunned.

"So what? I can still think Wilbur is cute..." Liz said good-humored and watched how Wilbur, came out from the laundry with his shrink wrapped tuxedo.

"Besides, he doesn't like it if somebody calls him Junior..." she added. Here again, she had this weird undertone.  
Apparently Pete and Liz had this fantastic idea to pair Junior up with Violet.  
Anyway, since a few weeks Liz tried repeatedly to convince Violet that Wilbur really wasn't a bad guy.

"I couldn't care less" Vi said harsh. She hoped that Liz would change the topic now.

"Why don't you like him anyway?" Liz asked after a pause, while Violet was still trying to decide on a hairdo.  
She heard this question soooo many times recently! And Violet's previous answers had been all pretty lame excuses....

Vi went in the changing room again before she replied.

"Well, ask him..." she said, hoping the conversation was over.

"He said, he doesn't like you because you hate him without reason..."

Vi ripped the door of the changing room open.

"Without reason?!" she exclaimed furiously. Then she behold Liz knowing grin.

"So... there is a reason...?"

Violet rolled her eyes and went into the changing room again.

"Listen Liz ..." Violet began and tried to sound as honestly as she could.  
"The chemistry is good between some people and with others it's not. With me and Junior it's like with ... with ... Nitro and Glycerin. It simply explodes... and nobody knows why..."

"When you would pay more attention in chemistry, you knew why!" Liz joked and also went into the changing room again.

"I can't believe that you talked with him about me..."

"There's no reason to be disappointed. I did it because of completely egoistic reasons"

"So... did he say something else about me?" Violet asked hesitantly after a pause.

"Nope... Gosh! What shoes shall I wear?!"

* * *

Wilbur waited in the laundry for his suit when he suddenly saw something red on the first floor of the store on the other side of the street. He squinted through his sunglasses and recognized Liz Beckett, his best friend's girlfriend. She was wearing a pretty strawberry red dress and looked down on the street.  
Pete could count himself lucky... Liz was smart, cute and a lovely girl.

He turned away abruptly. When Liz was around, Parr couldn't be far away.  
But his gaze was attracted by the huge building on the other side of the street again.  
And really ... there she was.

Wilbur frowned. That stupid girl...  
She was so stuck up and snotty, as if she was something better. And these frosty gazes she threw at him when he dared to come across her way... And the way she always called him 'Junior'... Gosh! How he hated that!  
And now she was shopping - as always - and admired herself in the mirror.  
The dress looked incredible... and her endless legs... and her hair... and her face could be really beautiful when she was smiling...

Wilbur shook his head.  
Gosh! What was he just thinking there?!

Unconsciously he bit his finger, as he always did when he became nervous.

"Sir?"

Wilbur startled and looked puzzled at the robot, which stood behind the counter.

"What?" Wilbur asked confused.

"That makes 29.99" repeated the robot.

After Wilbur had paid with his credit card and went out, he carefully put his suit on the backseat and tried not to stare up to the two young women.  
That was easier said than done. He was so nervous that he pushed the gas pedal a little too much. The tires squeaked when he drove off.  
He bit his lip ... hopefully, she hadn't seen this ...

Wilbur raced through the streets and skiped town. He was completely rattled. Only when he had left the city, it came back to his mind, that he actually wanted to buy flowers.  
He cursed annoyed.  
This stupid Parr brought nothing but trouble ...

He decided to drove a lap around the lake to calm down again.  
The weather was beautiful and actually he wasn't in a hurry.

Wilbur was just driving on a road with light traffic along the lakeside and hadn't wasted a thought of Parr for 5 minutes already, when suddenly a bright light flashed up above the lake!  
The Time Machine popped out, shot down into the lake, trundling and raising lots of water when it crashed!

The Lady Crema braked with screeching tires.  
Wilbur stumbled out of the car and ran to the shore of the lake.


	19. Chapter 18

Author's note: How can i know that updates of this story are still desired? REVIEWS are the fuel that makes me writing!

Have fun! from now on it gets confusing, funny and romantic... 8D

* * *

Wilbur reacted quickly. He ran across the lawn to the shore. In the distance, he could see the time machine slowly sinking in the bubbling water.

Only now, he understood the situation ... and it filled him with panic!

This time machine was from the past!

Wilbur was convinced that he - or rather his past self - had to do something with this.

What if his earlier self drowned? Then he would disappear! His existence had been wiped out once already, and that hadn't been a very pleasant feeling!

Suddenly, he saw two heads emerge from the water after the time machine had completely dipped below the surface.

Wilbur wanted to jump into water in order to help them, but then his gaze fell on his new shoes ... and his designer jeans ... and his hair, and he realized that it would all be completely ruined ...

Besides, the two didn't seem to be in any real danger now...

So instead, he paced up and down the shore worriedly.

* * *

When Wilbur emerged from the icy water, he couldn't breathe at first. The sudden cold seemed to paralyze his lungs. He moved around and made a couple of strokes, but that didn't help against the cold. Then, he suddenly looked hastily around.

Where was Violet?

He was taken over by sheer horror, and a horrible thought overcame him.

What if Violet was ...?

His heart pounded. He couldn't believe it! It couldn't be true!

This was all his fault! He had snatched the steering wheel out of her hands and had fallen against the dashboard, bringing them into this time and place!

He took a deep breath, though his lungs hurt, and dove into the water. The coldness stung his head, but he didn't care.

Underneath him, he saw only darkness. The headlights of the sinking time machine were barely visible.  
Wilbur couldn't hold his breath any longer. He resurfaced, looking desperately around one more time.  
He was alone ...

This couldn't be happening! He must be dreaming still!

His eyes filled with tears. He knew it wasn't dream.

Suddenly, Violet emerged a little further. She coughed, and it was obvious that she was having difficulty holding her head above water.

Relief flooded Wilbur's mind! Suddenly, he barely felt the cold anymore. He swam over to Violet to help her. But when he tried to take her arm, she pushed his hand roughly away and gave him a look that seemed to say, "Great job, idiot!"

Wilbur wanted to say something, but the cold water made it hard for him to speak.

Suddenly, they heard someone calling. On the shore, a guy stood and waved to them.

Violet immediately began to swim with powerful strokes to the shore. Wilbur followed her.

Swimming was strenuous. Their wet clothes were heavy, pulling them down and disabling them.

"Who's this idiot?" Wilbur thought, annoyed when he saw this guy on the shore.

Why hadn't he jumped into the water and helped them? Or at least called the firemen or the Coast Guard or whoever? Instead of standing around and waving his arms like a stupid person!

For some reason, however, Wilbur wasn't surprised when he realized that the stupid person on the shore was really an older version of himself.

Good. Now they could get home, take the other time machine, and then disappear again.

And no one would ever find out.

However, his older self wasn't so pleased to see him.

Wilbur and Violet stumbled through the shallow water at the shore of the lake. They were dripping wet and shivering.

"What a coincidence!" Wilbur said, his teeth chattering as he spoke.

"Yeah, great coincidence!" His older self replied immediately, when he had saw who stumbled out of the water.

"Are you crazy?!" he continued to shout while he pulled young Wilbur ashore.

"What the heck are you doing here?!" He added in annoyance and grabbed the girl, whose face was covered by her drenched hair.

"Ask her!" Wilbur cried, making an accusatory gesture in Vi's direction. He was soaked to the bones and frozen. And now that their lives were no longer in danger, he blamed Violet for everything again.

Violet wiped her dripping wet hair away from her face.

Just then, the older Wilbur realized who the coughing girl was, and he backed away slowly in shock.

Violet sneezed suddenly.

"Oh my God!" the older Wilbur shrieked in panic. He ripped off his jacket and wrapped it around Violet. Then he lifted her up and carried her in his arms to the car.

"Hey!" Violet tried to resist.

Older Wilbur didn't notice. He wanted to put her in the backseat, but hesitated for a moment. She was dripping wet and would totally ruin the leather seats.

He grumbled reluctantly and rolled his eyes.

He had always known! Parr brought nothing but trouble ....

He set her down in the backseat, then walked around the side of the car and got in.

Younger Wilbur observed this performance and was stunned. Didn't anybody care about him?

"What about me?" he complained. His whole body was trembling from the cold.

"Get in!" His older self ordered brusquely, putting on his sunglasses.

Wilbur reluctantly began to move. He opened the passenger door with his clammy hands.

"Uh-uh! In the backseat!"

"What?" Young Wilbur asked incredulously.

His future self snatched a tuxedo from the back seat and placed it on the passenger seat. Then, with a twist of his head, he motioned Wilbur to get in the backseat.

Wilbur couldn't understand this, but he wasn't in the mood to argue with his older self. He was just too cold. He got in, skeptically eying a flowered child car seat, which was attached to middle of the backseat.  
"Okay, now start from the beginning. What the heck possessed you to sink the time machine in the lake?!" Wilbur's older self asked indignantly.

"That wasn't me!"

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, we have a big problem now!"

"That wasn't my idea! It was hers!"

Violet still didn't really understand what had happened. With horror, she looked around as the car drove off.

Something went wrong. She should have been back in her own time, but apparently she was still in TodayLand!

She tried to remember what had happened. She had easily flown the time machine out of the garage, and then this weird boy had appeared, and then she almost drowned ... and now she was sitting in a car, and... where were they going anyway?

Something had gone wrong ... horribly wrong.

"She kidnaped me! We should call the police!" Wilbur fussed.

Violet wanted to say something, but she only sneezed again.

When the older Wilbur heard her sneeze, he pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The car lurched forward, causing the other two occupants to become frightened.

"If one of you gets sick, I'm going to lose it!"

"If we have a car accident and die, you will definitely lose it!" Wilbur thought, annoyed by his older self.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Violet. She was shivering, and she looked as though she was up to her neck in a mess. What possible motive could she have to steal a time machine?

"Why did you steal the time machine?" he asked aloud.

She sighed heavily, bit her lip, and looked away in shame.

Wilbur rolled his eyes and groaned. After she had kidnaped him and destroyed the time machine (something that he would obviously be blamed for when he got back home), he felt that she owed him an explanation for all this.  
"Where are we? I mean, when are we?" He turned to the driver.

"How old are you?" asked his older self.

"Thirteen."

"Then you traveled about four years into the future. Why?"

"Well, I guess that wasn't intended."

"I had - I wanted to - " Vi blurted out suddenly. She was sorry that they were in this situation because of her. She didn't want this to happen! But the sudden thought of her parents left her silent. Did she disappear again for about four years? And after they had finally found her for the first time!

Vi got a knot in her throat and almost started to cry.

"Whatever. We'll get home, and just take the time machine from this time. I don't want to wait until the other one is fished out of the lake," young Wilbur said, folding his arms in an attempt to warm himself up.

"Erm ..." his older self hesitated.

"What?"

"Well..."

"What?!"

"In order to prevent these kind of things from happening ..."

"No..."

"...You see, Dad thought it was best. We had to..."

"No! Please don't!"

"... destroy both of the time machines."

"No! That can't be true! We're stranded here?!" Wilbur shrieked in disbelief.

Violet gulped. This day was getting worse by the minute.

She couldn't believe it. They were staying here! She had sank their only chance to return in the middle of the lake! And she had dragged an innocent stowaway into this mess.  
She felt miserable, and her stomach began to hurt.

"Calm down!" Older Wilbur demanded, "First, we'll drive home and get you dry. Then, we'll call Dad and see what he can do."

At the mention of their dad, both Wilburs gulped. They would be in big trouble.

Everyone was silent for the rest of the ride.

* * *

"What are you doing back home? Weren't you going to pick up this sassy brunette?" Carl asked as he opened the door.

"Hi, Carl," young Wilbur greeted casually as he went inside. He couldn't wait to dry off.

Carl stared at him in shock. Then he suddenly began to wave his arms wildly.

"Are you crazy?! What have you done?!"

"Why are you blaming me?! It was these two!" the older Wilbur cried defensively.

"Not 'us!' It was only HER!" Wilbur pointed to Violet, who was hiding behind the older Wilbur.

"Hello," Violet said shyly, stepping carefully between the older Wilbur and the strange robot.

Carl's jaw dropped. "Is... isn't that...?" he stammered, pointing to the girl and addressing the older Wilbur.

"Yes! Exactly!" Older Wilbur interrupted. "So let us in, before one of them gets a cold," he ordered, pushed past Carl.

A few years ago, Wilbur had let Carl in on his... complicated relationship with Parr. The robot had never imagined, however, that younger versions of both her and Wilbur would randomly show up in the present.

"So, I guess I'm not supposed to tell your mom that you're back again?" Carl asked.

"No!" Both Wilburs cried simultaneously.

"Okay," Carl answered, closing the door and following after them.  
"Come on! We'll take a short cut so the others won't see you." Older Wilbur said, opening a door which led to a transport tube.

Violet remembered that she had seen tubes like that in the garage.

"Hey! Wilbur, Carl, have you seen my teeth?" A voice suddenly called out.

"Grandpa!" Older Wilbur exclaimed, running to his grandfather and turning him away from the door, while Carl pushed the others into the tube.

Violet didn't know what was going on. Suddenly, her feet left the ground, and she could hear only deafening hissing noise all around her. She was flying faster, but she couldn't tell which direction she was headed - whether it was up, down, left, or right.

The wild ride suddenly came to a halt, and she landed on something soft.

"Ouch!" Wilbur screamed, "Get off of me!"

"What the heck was that?" Violet shrieked hysterically when she caught her breath again. Her eyes darted back and forth, surveying their location. They were in a blue room now - a sharp contrast to the yellow-orange hall where they had been before.

"What was what?" Wilbur asked in annoyance, rubbing his aching back.

"That! Where are we?!"

Suddenly, she heard more hissing coming from directly above them.

"Aaah! What's happening?" She cried out.

"Oh man, chill out!" Wilbur groaned, grabbing her arm roughly and pulling her aside.

With wide eyes, Violet watched the older Wilbur and the robot shoot out of the tube and land perfectly on their feet, in the spot where she had just been.

"Well, that was close!" Older Wilbur remarked. "Now -"

But before he could continue, he was interrupted by a scream. Violet had seen Tiny, the Robinson's gentle dinosaur, and she screamed in shock.

The tame dinosaur, unaccustomed to people screaming at him, was also shocked and horrified, and he gave a fearful roar, baring his long sharp teeth.  
Violet started to completely panic. She cried out as loud as she could - but she felt someone grab her and press a hand to her mouth. She was pulled into a dark corner and pushed up against a wall.

"Stop screaming!" The younger Wilbur hissed. She stared at him. He took his hand carefully from her mouth.

"What the heck was -" She simply continued to scream. He put his hand on her mouth again.

"Shhh! That was our dinosaur, Tiny ... and you scared him to death! There's no reason to scream like that! Be quiet!" He hissed, taking his hand from her mouth.

"He's your pet? Oh my God!" Violet wailed.

* * *

A futuristic-dressed young woman stuck her head inside the blue room. It was Tallulah. She was wearing a brown and white dress with black highlights, along with a ship-shaped hat. Apparently, the theme of her outfit was "the Titanic."

"What was that?" she asked hesitantly when she saw Wilbur, Carl and the slightly disturbed Tiny all grinning at her. "I could have sworn that I heard someone screaming," she continued suspiciously.

"No. Nobody was screaming here. Who would be screaming here? And why? We're the only ones here. Did you hear someone screaming, Carl?"

"No, Wilbur! Nobody! And you, Tiny?"

The orange dinosaur gave a pitiful whimper. He was still quite scared.

Tallulah's eyebrows rose. "Okay. Then have fun," she said, turning to leave. Wilbur and Carl sighed in relief.

But suddenly, Tallulah turned around again.

"Oh, Wilbur. I thought you had a date with -"

"Yeah! No time! See ya later!" Wilbur cried, pushing Carl behind the corner.

After a few minutes, he peered around the corner making sure that Tallulah was finally gone. Then, he turned to the others.

"Phew! That was close. Now come on!"

They crept along carefully, but after a few steps Violet got scared again and screamed.  
Lefty, the octopus-butler turned around in shock, but before he could take a look at the visitors from the past, Carl jumped over to distract him.

"Hi, Lefty! Erm ..." Carl hesitated. He hadn't considered what else to say and looked desperately to the older Wilbur, who gestured wildly with his hands. If he wanted to say something, Carl didn't understand what. But suddenly, he had an idea.

"Franny wanted me to tell you that ... erm ... there are problems with the catering service. We need a few appetizers for tonight," he lied, "It would be nice if you could take care of that for us."

Lefty widened his large eye and gave a surprised hum. Then he hurried into the kitchen to get to work.

Wilbur took a deep breath, looking at the two younger kids. His past self had put his hand on Parr's mouth again.

"Could you please stop screaming?"

Violet pushed his hand roughly aside. "Couldn't you have warned me that you have giant mutant pets?!" She hissed at him angrily.

"Oh man. Now be quiet! Both of you!" Older Wilbur cried. This day wasn't going anything like he had planned.

Violet pushed younger Wilbur roughly away from her. This guy was getting on her nerves. She knew that she was the cause of their problem, but even so, he wasn't totally innocent either.

"Ouch! Did you see that?" Wilbur complained to his older self.

"Stop whining! Move it!" Older Wilbur ordered, shooing them further.

Finally, they reached Wilbur's room. When they entered, the younger Wilbur immediately realized some changes: new furniture, new posters - but before he got the opportunity to examine his room more closely, his older self thrust him and Violet into a room that hadn't been there in his time. Wilbur realized it was a bathroom. The shelves were stocked with hair sprays, hair gels, and aftershaves.

Before he could wonder about this, a deafening hiss interrupted his thoughts. Warm air whooshed around them, blowing them dry.

Vi gave a startled jump. She squinted her eyes and held her hands over mouth and nose, while her hair and Wilbur's red jacket (which she was still wearing) flapped around her wildly.

After about thirty seconds - to them, it seemed much longer - the ordeal ended. Wilbur shook his head, and looked into the large mirror.  
"Oh, gosh!" He shrieked, upon seeing his completely disheveled hair. He immediately grabbed a comb and tried to fix his hair again.

Violet, however, stared blankly into the mirror. Her hair was messy, and she was pale as a sheet. She looked for the door, stumbled clumsily outside, and sat on the couch. She didn't even notice the older Wilbur and Carl.

The two paused their conversation when she entered the room.

Older Wilbur stared at her. He still couldn't believe it.

Parr ... Violet Parr was in his room He gulped.

She sat on the couch, her arms crossed, looking heartrendingly sad. Wilbur had to fight the desire to sit down beside her and put his arm around her comfortingly.

He shook his head slowly. That was crazy! She was still the same. Well... not exactly the same, but still Parr ... only from the past. So he could pretty much care less about how she felt.

He turned around and picked up the telephone receiver.

"Hi, Lucy ... yes, it's me. Listen, erm ... something came up."

Violet didn't take notice of what was going on around her. She just felt miserable. Less than an hour ago, she believed that things couldn't get any worse... but now they had.

It was an absolute disaster!

She was stranded in the future ... again! She really wanted to cry her eyes out.

"Are you hungry? Perhaps you would like milk and cookies?" She suddenly heard a friendly voice.

Violet looked up. It was the robot, Carl. Violet didn't have much experience with these types of robots; the only robots she knew were the computers in the library and the canteen robots. She was a little frightened, and didn't really know how to react, so she just shook her head.

"I didn't say that I wouldn't come. I said that I could be a little later than I planned ... Why?" Wilbur repeated the question, throwing a hesitant glance to Carl.

Carl snatched a family photo from the shelf and showed it to him.

"Um ... family ... problems," Wilbur said hesitantly. Carl smacked his metal forehead, and pointed to the picture again. Only now, Wilbur recognized that Carl was pointing to a specific person..  
"Well ... my sister is sick."

At that moment, the younger Wilbur walked out of the bathroom.

"Sister?" He asked Carl. At first, he thought it was only a lame excuse, but then he remembered seeing the child car seat. He gulped.

Carl ignored the question, pretended to polish the picture with his elbow, and put it back on the shelf so that Wilbur couldn't see it.

"Yes ... temperature. You know, what sick little children have. Exactly, and I have to stay here until the baby sitter comes... Yes. Incredibly cute, I know ..." Older Wilbur continued on the phone.

"I'm going to get in the worst trouble of my life all because of you!" Younger Wilbur blurted out bitterly when he saw Violet sitting on the couch.

Violet felt attacked. This young Robinson was extremely getting on her nerves. She already knew that everything was her fault - there was no need to rub it in.

"Hello!" She retorted, "The door was wide open! You should be thankful that it was only me and not some insane psychopath!"

"What's the difference?!" Wilbur countered spitefully.

"Shut up!" Violet whispered angrily.

"You shut up!"

"No! You shut up!"

"No! You - "

"Calm down, kids!" Carl tried to appease them.

"Both of you shut up! I'm on the phone!" Older Wilbur cried angrily. Then, after a pause, he returned to his phone conversation, "Oh, that? That was ... Lazlo and Tallulah ... Why they don't look after Wilma? Because... I'm her brother, that's why! So, I need to go. Bye!"

He hung up. Then he groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"That woman drives me up the wall." He muttered.

"So, why are you dating her then?" Asked younger Wilbur casually, while he examined a football helmet in his hands.

Obviously, the older Wilbur felt disturbed by his younger self's comment. He lifted his head and grinned in annoyance.

"Because she's pretty! What do you think?"

But then he saw that his younger self was holding the helmet in his hands. His expression darkened.

"Put ... it...back!" he said ominously. Younger Wilbur made a face and put the stupid thing back. He threw a glance to Carl, almost as if to say, "What's wrong with that guy?" Carl only shrugged.

The younger Wilbur frowned. He always imagined that he would get along with his future self very well ... but this guy was really unlikeable.

His mind flashed to the thousands of hair sprays and gels in the bathroom. Then his gaze fell on the football equipment again and the training weights in the other corner of the room.

A cold shiver ran down his spine when he realized that he would become like that one day.

Besides... he really hated football.

The older Wilbur dialed the number of his father's office.

"Yes, this is Wilbur Robinson. I would like to speak with my father." He paused, then spoke again, this time more forcefully, "Then get him. This is an emergency!"

Young Wilbur sat on the other side of the couch. He imagined what his father would say when he saw him. He got a bad feeling in his stomach.

"I'm going to be in big trouble," he murmured, rubbing his neck uneasily.

"I'm sorry," responded a timid voice next to him. He looked towards her.

She drooped sadly, her scrubby hair concealing her pretty face. She put her hands around her stomach, as if she was in pain. Only now he noticed that he hadn't gotten tongue-tied or blushed around her since they crashed the time machine. They had even talked to each other, without his running off in embarrassment.

Well, actually they had only argued ... BUT they had talked. That was progress. He couldn't resist smiling.

"I know he's busy, but ... can you put me through?" He paused, waiting for the answer on the other end, "Yes. Goodbye."

Older Wilbur hung up. Now he was more annoyed than before.  
The day was over. His car seats were ruined. He wouldn't made it to his date in time. And now he couldn't reach his father.

"We need to go to Robinson Industries, whether we want or not," he said in dismay.

"You want to take them with you?" Carl asked.

"I don't know. But we can't just leave them here, right?"

"Why not?" Asked younger Wilbur. He wouldn't mind waiting here until the time machine was retrieved from the lake, without being hassled or scolded by his parents. Even if Violet had kidnaped him, she did have a point, and she was probably right. He had left the door open, and his parents would punish him for that.

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door, startling everyone in the room.

"Carl? Is that you?" Franny asked at the door.

"That's Mom!" Whispered the older Wilbur in panic.

"Hide!" Carl whispered back.

Everything happened very quickly. Wilbur grabbed the two younger teens and thrust them into a closet. He rode the lift to the upper floor of his bedroom and threw himself on his bed, so he couldn't be seen from below.

"Yes! I'm here." Carl announced in an almost sing-song voice. Franny came in.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in bewilderment. She carried a few clothes on her arm.

"I, um ... thought I heard the phone ringing," he said, watching as Franny went over to the closet. He stretched out his hands in despair, but it was too late. Franny opened the door.

Wilbur and Violet were standing inside, and their eyes widened when they saw Franny. Wilbur bit on his lip.

Carl closed his eyes. They would be in big, big trouble.

But Franny didn't see the two. Right when she opened the door, she turned around to take a look at the clock hanging on the wall behind Carl.

"Goodness, I'm going to be late for the rehearsal!" she exclaimed, putting the clothes automatically in a tray directly above Violet's head. Vi gulped.

"I need to leave now," Franny said, closing the cabinet, without noticing the two inside.  
Wilbur and Violet breathed a sigh of relief.

Carl did the same. He let his arms drop and took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" Franny asked.

"I sure am, Ma'am!" Carl exclaimed, jumping up and saluting. Franny giggled.

"Well then, come on!" She said, smiling as she walked out of the room

"With great pleasure," he said, following her to the door. But before he went, he stretched his head into the room again and said exaggeratedly loud, "Well then, we're going now!"

"Who are you talking to?" Franny asked. Carl closed the door hastily.

"Err, nobody," they heard his subdued voice from behind the door.

"Idiot!" Older Wilbur whispered loudly, when Franny and Carl had finally gone. He rode the platform back down and tore the closet door open.

"Oh man! That was close!" His younger self exclaimed immediately, jumping out of the closet and wiping cold sweat from his forehead.

"Okay! Let's go!" Ordered the older Wilbur.

They went out into the corridor.

Violet trotted behind the two guys, looking out for more monsters, robots, or other things like that. So much had happened in such a short time, and it made her feel completely dizzy. It was like a nightmare. She walked, but it felt as if she wasn't moving.

They arrived at a transport tube. Just the sight of it made Vi feel queasy.

"Ladies first," Older Wilbur said to her, pushing her under the tube.

"Oh God," she whimpered between clenched teeth. Then she shot up into the tube. Air hissed through her ears, and she felt herself speed up. It was even more terrible than the first time! She wanted to scream, but she couldn't breathe. Just when she thought she would never get out of this thing again, she suddenly crashed to the floor, landing in the garage.  
She painfully crawled aside and gasped for air.

This day was pure hell! Why couldn't she be happy with what she already had? She had finally been back with her family, after they had missed her for so many years. Suddenly, she began to hyperventilate. She felt dizzy and queasy. She would either lose consciousness or vomit.

Violet squatted on the floor and held the sleeve of Wilbur's red jacket over mouth and nose - when the transport tube hissed and older Wilbur shot out of it. He didn't notice her, but immediately ran to a small window, watching Franny drive off.

Shortly afterwards, Wilbur shot out of the transport tube. He first looked to his older self crouching at the window and peering outside.

Then the younger Wilbur turned to the girl, who was squatting on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" He asked hesitantly as he walked towards her. She answered with a slow shake of the head. Her eyes were closed and she cold sweat had formed on her forehead.

"You act like you've never used a tube before," Wilbur joked.

Violet opened her eyes and looked up at him, with half of her face hidden by her hair.

"I never have." She said finally, struggling to her feet. Wilbur tried to help her up, but she pushed his hand away. Then she wiped her disheveled hair from her face and looked to the older Wilbur.

Younger Wilbur cocked his head and looked at her, lost in thought. He simply couldn't understand this girl...

What would make someone break into another house and steal a time machine?

And she looked even more pretty, when she didn't hide her face with her hair.

"Don't you have transport tubes in Alaska?" He asked to break the silence.

Violet was obviously surprised by the question. She looked to the ground.

"Not where I come from," she answered bitterly.

"She's gone! Come on!" Cried the older Wilbur, as he opened the garage door.

Violet and Wilbur started to move. Wilbur walked a little bit behind her. He clenched his fists as he walked, desperately pondering on what he could say. He couldn't just leave it like that. He had to say something now!

"Do you feel better?" he said finally. Inside, he gave himself a kick. Was this really the best thing Wilbur Robinson could come up with?

Violet turned to him and gave him a strange, distant gaze. The same gaze she gave him when they met for the first time. Wilbur froze.

"I feel great," she said sarcastically, "except that this is by far the worst day of my life." She managed an exhausted smile.

Wilbur managed to smile back. Talking to her wasn't actually so difficult...

"Hurry up!" Cried the other Wilbur indignantly. The two hurried outside and climbed into the Lady Crema.


	20. Chapter 19

What a simple smile could change!  
Wilbur sat on the backseat of the Lady Crema and looked amazedly around. The grass was much greener somehow ... and the sky was so blue!  
He looked over to Violet. The wind blew her disheveled hair from her pretty face. She looked a little tired and pale and looked into the distance, lost in thought.  
He did it! The ice was broken! He no longer feared her.

Suddenly the top of the car folded closed.

"Hey!" Wilbur complained.

"Sure ... Let all people around here see you! Why not?!" said his older self sarcastically. Then he turned to Violet.

"So. Why have you stolen the time machine?"

Violet looked at him, startled. She had just acclimatizes a bit, but now her heart pounded again. Her mind searched desperately for an excuse.

"Well?"

"I wanted to... -"

"That was my fault! I left the door open again ...!" Wilbur interrupted her.

"What?" cried the older Wilbur upset.

"She didn't know that it was a time machine ..."

Violet looked stunned at Wilbur.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, barely hearable.

"I'm helping you!"

Violet needed a few seconds.

"Why?!" she whispered then completely uncomprehendingly.

Wilbur didn't really know the answer as well. He shrugged, then he turned again to his older self.

"It's all my fault! She has nothing to -"

"Actually, I wanted to travel to the past ..." Violet interrupted this time.

"What?!" cried the older Wilbur.

"What are you doing?" Wilbur hissed at her.

"I screwed up, okay? I don't need someone who takes the blame for me!" Violet hissed back.

"What the hell did you want in the past?" cried the older Wilbur shocked and turned around.

"Watch out!" screamed his younger self.

But it was too late. The car drove against an object and knocked it over. Wilbur slammed the brake immediately.

"Duck down!" he hissed, then he hurried out. A car accident was the last thing they needed now.

"Why have you done that? I tried to help you ..." whispered Wilbur to Violet.

"Why? I've kidnapped you! "

"You certainly had a good reason ... I mean to steal the time machine..."

"When you knew..." murmured Violet.

Suddenly they heard voices outside. The two made themselves as small as possible, and listened.  
Wilbur recognized the voice first and gave a startled gasp. Violet needed a moment longer. Then she peered carefully through the window.

"What are you doing! Come down!" hissed Wilbur. But she didn't listen.

Her gaze was attracted by the young woman who was apparently run down by the vintage car.  
She wore a red sundress and a lavender colored belt that emphasized the slim waist. But what Violet confused the most was the full, wavy hair, which absolutely didn't look like her own ... therefore she wasn't sure whether or not the young woman really was her future self. Before she could think about it, the young woman looked at her.  
Violet crouched immediately.

"I think she saw me!" she whispered.

"Was.... was that me?" she added confused. Wilbur raised his head briefly and looked out. Then he crouched again.

"Definitely" was all he said. Violet stopped short.

The older Wilbur got back in the car again.

"Stay down..." he said quietly, then the car drove off.

"How can you know? You have looked at her only for a few seconds. I did much longer and couldn't tell ..." Violet said after a pause.

"She had your face ..."

In the first moment Violet was baffled by the answer ... She hadn't paid a lot of attention to the woman's face.  
She had been distracted by the woman's good figure that matched her as little as the full hair. Then she remembered that boys of Wilbur's age actually paid attention to anything else than the face.  
She had to grin.

"What?" Wilbur asked aback.

"Oh nothing ..." Violet replied, and chuckled.

* * *

Wilbur ran around his car and was shocked. On the ground lay a silver bicycle, the wheels still spun, and right next to it lay a young woman whose dark hair covered her face. She wore a pretty red dress and around her bags and boxes were scattered on the floor.

"Oh God! I'm terribly sorry! I – I didn't see you!" Wilbur hastily apologized and wanted to help her up.

"This is so typical! Were you busy with styling your hair again while driving?!!" exclaimed a well-known voice. Wilbur froze. That couldn't really happen!  
Violet struggled on her feet.

"Hello? What about helping me, jerk?!!" she started bawling.

Wilbur gulped. The day was getting worse and worse.

"Are you hurt?" he asked sheepishly. He couldn't afford to argue with her now, and finally he really hadn't paid attention on traffic.

"Don't worry! I'm insured!" Violet replied saucily. Then she started to pick the bags from the ground.  
"Jeez! If my new dress is ruined, I will - "

Wilbur took a deep breath. He put his hands in his pocket and prepared inwardly for a rude rubdown. But then his gaze fell on his beloved Lady Crema -

"Holy - Aark! Look at that!" he cried suddenly, ran to the car and surveyed the huge scratch, that the handlebar of Violet's bicycle had left. It stretched out about 10 inches over the flank of the car.

"Awww! Has the baby outchy outchy?" Violet mocked.

"Are you crazy?! Do you know what it costs to fix, re-paint and seal this?!" Wilbur nagged back.

"Oh sure! How could I forget! You're soooo poor!" Violet exclaimed sarcastically.  
Wilbur rolled his eyes annoyedly. He hated it when she labeled him as a snob.

"What ya lookin at?! You can be happy that I don't call the police!"

That took a load off Wilbur's mind. He already had the horror vision of spending the rest of the day with the two timetravelers at the police department; he almost jumped up and thanked her. But when he would do that, she surely changed her opinion, only to score off him.

Against Violet's expectations Junior replied nothing.

"Can you handle it on your own now?" he asked not really thrilled. It almost sounded as if he wanted to offer his help. That was the least he could do, after all he had knocked her over! Nevertheless, Violet was suspicious. She looked over to the car...

... and saw a pair of blue eyes, which disappeared again. Vi frowned.

"Sure i can...." she said hesitantly. Then her gaze fell on Junior again.

"You're a danger for the public, Junior! Your driving license should be revoked! And this stupid piece of junk belongs to the scrap yard!" she nagged with her usual bitchy voice.

Even now Junior said nothing. He simply got into his car and drove off.

Violet watched puzzled how the vintage car drove away. She had a strange feeling.  
Why did this guy closed the top of his convertible on such a beautiful day...?

He finally lost his mind completely.

She shrugged and looked at the battlefield in front of her feet.

"Great ..." she said resignedly, and continued to pick up the bags and cartons. When she was finally done, she put up her bike, bundled the stuff on the carrier and wanted to leave.

"What the -... I can't believe it! No!" she cried suddenly. The handlebar of the bike was loose and moved blithely around, while the front wheel didn't make the slightest move.  
Now she even had to carry her bike!

"If I only would have noticed before, he could have taken me home!" she thought annoyedly - but then she thought it over again.  
Together with Junior ... in his car? Then she would range in a long row of other girls....  
A cold shiver ran down her spine.  
No, then she would rather walk the long way home - it was still enough time until the ball started.

* * *

Lady Crema and passengers arrived at the main building of Robinsons Inc., where the Robinson Ball should take place this evening, Wilbur climbed out of the car and then turned to the two time travelers.

"You stay here!" he said and turned to go.

"Can't you open the top?" asked his younger self. He stepped back to the window, where Violet sat.

"Listen, nobody must see you, got it? Neither of you will leave this car! I'll be right back"

Then he went into the building.  
The preparations for the ball ran at full speed. It was decorated, built or rehearsed everywhere.  
Hopefully he didn't run into his mother!

On the top floor, at the office of his father, Wilbur went straight across the secretary.

"Hey, excuse me! You can't enter there just like that!" cried the lady upset. Wilbur just put down his sunglasses and looked at the lady.

"Oh! Mr. Robinson! I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you immediately... But your father is very busy at the moment, perhaps you should -"  
But Wilbur ignored her. He just went on and pushed open the large doors to the office.  
Cornelius sat exhausted behind his desk, on which a lot of paper piled up. With one hand he held the telephone receiver, with the other he grubbed in one pile of paper. When he saw Wilbur, he waved him to come in.  
Wilbur went inside and sat on one of the two chairs in front of the big golden-coloured desk.

"Do it, like you think it's right..." said his father, and rolled his eyes completely annoyed.  
Wilbur looked around in the office while Cornelius phoned.  
Behind the desk was a huge window, which allowed a magnificent panorama of the city.  
On the large table lay crumpled sketches and drawings of new inventions and a lot of other paperwork.  
Cornelius hung up the receiver and groaned.

"The catering service has delivered salmon appetizers instead of cheese appetizers, and the garlands are not magenta but crimson," he cried, appalled.

"The whole day was like that! For every little problem, they call me!" Exhausted, he put his head in the table.

"I hate this ball! Which blockhead had this totally stupid idea?"

"That was you, Dad ..." Wilbur said, and grinned. Cornelius grinned back and rubbed his tired eyes.

"Oh ... right. This was probably one of my less brilliant ideas ..." he said. "So, what's wrong? Don't you have a date right now?" he asked his son.

Wilbur rubbed his neck uncomfortably.

"Well... I... I've just knocked over a biker" Wilbur said. He didn't know why he mentioned that at all.

"Oh! Are they hurt?"

"Err.... no..."

"Did your car got damaged?"

"Err. .. yes ... but that's not what i wanted to tell you..."

"Okay ... what is it then?"

"So ... phew ... I don't really know where to start ... so ... There is a problem ... "

"Oh God! You didn't get anybody pregnant, did you?! Please tell me that you--" cried his father suddenly almost hysterical.

"Dad! No! NO!!!" Wilbur interjected quickly.

"Oh, thank God, thank you! Phew, for a moment, I was seriously worried ..." said Cornelius completely calm again. Then he saw his son's stunned face.

"I'm sorry ... I'm a little hypersensitive ... This ball stresses me terribly... So, what's your problem?"  
"Why did you first - oh, no matter ... So, our problem is -"

"Now it's suddenly our problem?"

Wilbur told his father the situation in a few words. Cornelius' expression darkened.

"The strangest thing is that I've never done something like that... I mean, if my past self time traveled, then I would have done that too accordingly... but I never did! That can't be possible, can it?"

Cornelius took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He had headache, and this problem didn't make it any better.

"Not necessarily ..." he sighed, "Time travels are very complicated ... Time is a universal constant, whose parameters, however, can be changed arbitrarily, so that the result can hardly be predetermined. This has many influencing factors, such as gravity, the ratio of the speed of light - "  
He stopped talking when he saw Wilbur, whose expression seemed to say "I don't understand a single word"

"Whatever ... the time machine sank in the lake?"

"Yepp..."

"Then we need a rescue squad. They shall bring this thing home to us"

He picked up the receiver and dialed a number ... but then he paused astonished.

"What's wrong?" Wilbur asked.

"That's not -... but I've just phoned… Today, everything goes wrong." moaned his father and put the not working reciever back. Then he turned to his secretary.

"Mrs. Godfrey! Get somebody from Skip'n'Dive and send him to me ..." he called over to her.

"And then check why the phone doesn't work!" he added, irritated.

Wilbur stood up and wanted to leave.

"Not so fast! What do you want to do now?" his father asked.

"I ... bring them back home and then prepare for the ball ..."

"I'm sorry, but you can forget about that"  
"But Dad ...!"  
Wilbur grimaced. For once he wasn't responsible but should be punished anyway?!

"You know how dangerous time travel is. We can't risk anything... "

"I have to play the babysitter?!"

His father looked at him strictly over the edges of his glasses.

"I expect that you do that..." he said with a harsh tone. Wilbur sighed resignedly and turned around to leave.

"Wait a minute ..." said his father reluctantly. "... 'them'? I thought your past self was alone?"

Wilbur dropped his head between his shoulders. He had completely left out Violet in his report.

"Did ... did I said... 'them'...? I meant of course 'him'... So he ... he was all alone"

"Who's with him?" Cornelius asked strictly.

"Nobody ...?" whimpered Wilbur. But he couldn't stand Cornelius' strict gaze.

"A girl ... from my class. You don't know her..." he sighed finally.

"Violet Parr ..." Cornelius said suddenly. Wilbur was perplex.

"Erm ... yes ... exactly ... But how -"

"Not so important .... I think I need to have a serious talk with them..." Cornelius said quietly, more to himself than to Wilbur.

In contrast to his son, Cornelius had understood the situation directly.  
He couldn't believe it. This girl seriously had the audacity to take his time machine to change the past?!  
On one hand, he had sympathy for her situation ... There was nobody in this world, who could imagine what was going on in that child's mind. Alone ... stranded in a strange time .... with a family, who thought she was dead for years...  
On the other hand he shivered when he thought about the possible consequences if she would have been successful with her plan.  
The whole course of time would have changed. Nothing would be as it was now!  
And he couldn't believe that his son was her accomplice!  
But obviously something went wrong ... They fortunately landed in the future instead of the past....  
.... though that was not less dangerous.

"Mr. Robinson? Mr. Dassler from Skip'n'Dive is here now..." said his secretary. Cornelius startled from his thoughts.

"Yes, well! Send him in! And you -" he turned to Wilbur, "You will bring them to us and keep an eye on them..."

Wilbur only nodded. Then he left the office and went back to his car.

That wasn't fair!  
Just because these children had an extremely stupid idea, he was the only one who could spend the evening at home?!  
Everybody would be there! Even Parr - though she was alone ... she had been dumped by this guy recently... what was his name...? Whatever... he didn't care.

How pathetic ... to go alone to a ball....

"Not so pathetic like staying home because of babysitting" Wilbur thought angrily.

... Somewhere in his mind, he wondered if she would wear that dark blue mini-dress he spied her trying on...  
He shook his head and focused on his own situation again.  
Seriously annoyed, he gritted his teeth and left the building.


	21. Chapter 20

Violet pondered intensely. If she was still here - well, if her future self was here ... then her journey to the past didn't succeed.

Would she never get her old life back?

But how could that be?

"Wait a sec, Violet! Your great 'journey to the past' DIDN'T succeed! You landed in the future and got caught. Of course your future self is still here!" Stated her logical mind.

The realization overwhelmed Violet. She would never return to undo what happened ... which meant that his whole mission had been completely useless! Moreover, she had kidnaped a completely innocent bystander.

Vi leaned back and sighed sadly. Why couldn't she ever do anything right?

"So. Can we start from scratch?" Wilbur asked, sitting beside her. Violet turned her head tiredly and looked over the child car seat to his direction.

"What's all this fuss about?"

His question was more than justified. But Violet had a knot in her throat already, and she didn't want to talk about it.

"I mean, since you kidnaped me, then you should at least tell me what's going on."

"Long story. You wouldn't understand anyway." She said solemnly. She got teary-eyed and looked away.

"Well, if you knew me better, then -"

"I don't know you at all!" Violet interrupted. She sounded much more serious than she actually intended, but it apparently worked.

"Right." Wilbur replied quietly, looking at the ground in embarrassment.

Violet felt sorry immediately. Wilbur couldn't be blamed for their miserable situation. He was the victim of her totally crazy plan. She felt guilty.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just -" she froze and stared out of the window behind him.

"What ...?" Wilbur asked hesitantly when she didn't continue.

Suddenly, she slipped to the door and got out.  
"Hey! What are you doing?" Wilbur squeaked in panic. Violet turned around again.

"I'll be right back." She said, slamming the door and running across the road.

Wilbur's jaw dropped as he stared after her, in full horror.

What the heck was going on with this girl?

He pondered for a few seconds. His thoughts were racing. He remembered what his father said about growing up and taking responsibility.

Well, he wouldn't get out and into trouble They were in a deep enough mess already!

"This Violet brings nothing but trouble " He thought angrily, crossing his arms and sulking. He wouldn't move! Not one inch!

But ... what if something happened to her?

If something happened to her, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself!

Without wasting another thought, he jumped out of the car and ran after Violet.

* * *

Wilma sat on the windowsill, watching her mother's boring rehearsal. For her, frogs talking and singing was completely normal. It was nothing special .... and that's why she was bored to death.

Neither her mother nor the frogs, nor Carl, nor anyone else in the large ballroom gave her the slightest attention. Everyone was busy. Her mother was rehearsing, Carl was bossing the staff around, while they decorated the ballroom with balloons, streamers and garlands, arranging tables and chairs and bringing food and drinks.

Nothing a little girl could be helpful or useful for. The windowsill was the only place where she bothered nobody. She dangled her feet and was terribly bored.

Wilbur should be here. When he was there, it was never boring. He was strong and funny and incredibly cool He could do so many cool things that she couldn't do.

For example, driving a car... and riding a bike! Or ... or throwing a football soooo far! And being so tall, reaching the cookies from the top shelf! And lifting incredibly heavy weights, which Wilma couldn't even move with all her might! And he had so many cool things! And a cool room! Everything about him was just ... well, cool.  
Oh, if he only he could be there...

She stared out of window, bored out of her mind. She thought that she must have sat there for hours (when really it was only ten minutes).

But suddenly she recognized Wilbur's car. It was parked in front of the main entrance.

Freshly inspired by the idea to finally get away, she ran excitedly over to her mother, who was conducting her frog orchestra.

"Mommy! Mommy!" She exclaimed. But her mother didn't hear her voice over the loud music. Franny turned her back to Wilma and concentrated on her band. Wilma cried out a few more times, but Franny didn't respond.

"MOMMY!!!" She screamed out as loud as she could. She not only drowned out the music, but all other sounds in the ballroom as well. Some of the staff even had to cover their ears. The music stopped.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Franny asked, as she wiped a strand of hair from Wilma's face.

"I wanna go see Wilbur ..."

"He's here?" Franny asked puzzled.

Wilma nodded with bright eyes, her pigtails bouncing up and down.

Franny frowned. She couldn't think of a reason why Wilbur should be there. Her gaze fell on her little daughter, making puppy dog eyes and jumping impatiently from one foot to the other.  
Obviously, Wilma could hardly wait to get away from here. Franny felt sorry that she wasn't able to pay more attention to her energetic daughter at the moment.

But if Wilbur had time to come, he surely had time to keep an eye on his sister.

"Okay," she said, bending down to give her daughter a hug. "Well, thanks for letting me know." Franny added, giving Wilma a kiss on her cheek. After she released her, Wilma ran like greased lightning through the ballroom to the exit. Franny barely had an opportunity to tell her daughter: "Don't annoy your brother too much!"

"I won't!" Wilma said without turning around. Excitedly, she ran out.

But once she reached the elevator, her enthusiasm dampened when she realized that she couldn't reach the buttons. Even the bottom buttons were too high for her. Wilma tried to jump, but she still couldn't reach them.  
"Well, young lady? Where do you want to go?" Asked a voice. Wilma turned around and looked up at Carl with big, begging eyes.

"Down." She squeaked.  
Carl picked the little girl up and gave her a hug.

"Shouldn't you stay with your mother?" He asked.

"I'm going to Wilbur."

"Ah, I see." Carl said, and pressed the button bringing the elevator to the lowest floor. Carl was relieved. If Wilbur told his father about this 'little' problem, then it would soon be resolved. And since neither he nor Franny had the time to keep an eye on Wilma, Wilbur could take over this job.

They left the main building and went to the Lady Crema.

"Well, where is he?" Carl asked when they realized that the car was empty.

"He'll come back." Wilma replied hastily, because she feared that she would have to go back to the ballroom if he didn't.

"Would you rather go out with me and buy more decorations for the ball?" Carl asked, still not completely sure if he should take her along with him.

Wilma thought about it.

The thought of all the colorful balloons was tempting, but then she shook her head shyly.

"Well," said Carl, when he sat her in the child car seat and buckled her seatbelt. "Then don't get into any trouble while you wait here." He said playfully yet sternly, as he closed the door. But before he left, he stretched his head through the open window inside.

"And don't annoy your brother too much, okay?"

"I won't ." Wilma replied obediently. Why did everybody tell her that? She was never annoying.

"You can't count on anybody nowadays And who needs to manage everything in the end? The robot, of course! Who else!" Carl muttered irritably, as he returned to the main building, his mind completely occupied with preparations for the ball again.

Wilma waited until he had disappeared. Then she unbuckled her seatbelt, climbed into the driver's seat and opened the top of the car. It made a low humming as it slowly moved back. Wilma enjoyed it every time. It seemed as if the sky was opening above her slowly.

She leaned over to the glove compartment and rummaged around in it, but unfortunately, Wilbur's sunglasses were not there.

So she'd have to drive without the sunglasses.

She got behind the wheel again and pretended to drive, while she waggled her little feet (which weren't even close to the pedals), and made noises to imitate the car's motor. She had so much fun! For Wilma, the Lady Crema was like one big adventurous playground!

After a few minutes, she began to make siren noises. She was a criminal involved in a car chase with the police. Then, she was the police chasing the criminal. Then, she drove to the mall, and then, she was the champion of the TodayLand soapbox race.

It was only a mere coincidence when she suddenly saw her brother in the glass elevator at the edge of the building.

Wilma got scared. She knew that she wasn't allowed to sit on the driver's seat, and that she absolutely shouldn't have left her child car seat. And Wilbur had already yelled at her today.

She clambered hastily to the backseat, sat in her child car seat and started to fasten the seatbelt. But then, a thought came to her mind. Wilbur would certainly not be very pleased to see that he had to take her along on his oh-so-important date. He probably would bring her to her mother again!

There was only one solution: Wilma had to hide!

She opened the extra seat between the back seat and trunk and climbed in it - just at the moment when Wilbur left the building through the main entrance.

* * *

Violet pushed her busted bicycle along the roadside, hoping that she didn't meet up with anyone she knew.

Everything seemed to go wrong today. First, she didn't get the red dress she wanted. Then, Junior slammed into her bike and broke it, and she couldn't take the monorail or the transport bubbles, because she had to carry it along with her.

And now, she would miss her hairstyling appointment with Antoine.

Despite everything, she tried to stay in a good mood. She would just wear her hair down, put on decent make-up, and go to the ball tonight. There was no reason to be stressed out or in a bad mood...  
Except that she had been looking forward to this evening for one year, and nothing would ruin it. Yep, everything was just great!

She gritted her teeth. Nothing was great.

Now the ball was finally here, and everything was going wrong!

She sighed, utterly exhausted. It was quite difficult to carry a heavy bicycle with high heels on - with one hand on the loose handlebar and the other at the crossbar so that the bike didn't tumble down. So she was stooping down and walking along the pavement, and she was sure that she looked pretty ridiculous.

Her gaze wandered to the main buildings of Robinson Industries. It was a magnificent, R-shaped building, stretching high into the sky. Far above the ground was the company logo - a silver R with three diagonal lines on a red background. This view made her feel a little better. After all, she owed Cornelius Robinson her life and she would be eternally grateful for him saving her...

... which didn't mean that she had to like his son.

Speak of the devil! Directly in front of the main entrance, Junior had parked his car.

Violet looked away, quickening her pace. It wouldn't be necessary for Junior to see her like that.

That stupid, arrogant snob! He was probably just annoying his father because of this stupid scratch.

Gosh, today everything really went wrong. Could it get any worse?

"Don't say that, Vi, or it definitely WILL get worse!" She thought annoyed.

Suddenly, she was pushed into a side street!

Her bike dropped, and her packages were scattered on the ground again. At first, Violet hoped that nothing happened to her new dress. Then, she turned around to shout at the person who had pushed her!

But then, she was only able to shriek when she...

... saw herself!

"A clone!" She shrieked, as she took a leap back, and formed a defensive stance. In front of her stood a girl, who was obviously her... though, in fact, it actually wasn't that obvious. The girl looked exactly like she did many years ago: The same thin, straight hair; the same meager, thin figure... the same pale face.

* * *

Wilbur already believed that he had lost Violet in chaos of the city, but then he discovered her. He tried his best to weave through the people. Then, he realized the reason why Violet had left the car. A little further along walked her future self, carrying a bicycle.

Wilbur hurried to catch up with Violet before she ran into her future self!

Suddenly, he saw Violet push the young woman in the red dress behind a corner into a side street!

Wilbur gulped and tried to catch up with her as quickly as possible.

When he finally came around the corner into the side street, he saw a strange picture. On the floor lay the silver bicycle and the shopping bags. The two Violets faced each other, with the older one in defensive position, as if she wouldn't hesitate to use brute force to defend against her smaller self.

"I'm not a clone!" Younger Violet started to say, "I'm from - "

"Aaak! Another clone!" The older Violet shrieked at the sight of Wilbur and took another leap back. The younger Violet turned to him briefly, then she turned back to her future self.

"We are not clones! We are from the past!"

Wilbur jerked back in surprise. Then he dashed over to Violet, wanting to tear her away and drag back to the car.

"Clones always say that they are not clones!" Her future self shouted.

"I AM you, from the past!" Violet repeated, pushing Wilbur away roughly. Wilbur grit his teeth and looked over to the older Violet.

She looked half-horrified and half-skeptical, as she stared at both of the young teens. When their eyes met, Wilbur made a face and twirling his finger beside his temple, trying to show that the younger Violet had lost her marbles.

"I've taken the time machine, and - "

"What time machine?" The older Violet asked suddenly.

"His father's - "

"Time Machine?" Wilbur spoke up, "No!" She said, um ... 'transport machine'! Yes, exactly! We are exchange students from .... from .... France! We can't speak the language so well yet - "

"Shut up!" Interrupted the younger Violet.  
"No! You shut up! Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you're getting us into?!"

"It can hardly get worse! I only want to ask a few questions!"

"You can't simply run around and question people about your future!"

The older Violet stood up, watching this weird performance carefully.

Older Violet started to think. Cornelius Robinson was a great genius. Could he really have succeeded in constructing a time machine? And could these two have really come from the past?

"So, you are ... from the past?" She interrupted the two arguing teens hesitantly.

"Yes!" Violet exclaimed.

"No!" Wilbur exclaimed simultaneously.

The older Violet raised her eyebrow. Then she looked down the road casually to make sure that nobody was watching them.

Suddenly, she grabbed the two young teenagers, tore them deeper into the side street, pushed them around another corner, and pressed them against a wall brutally.

"Ouch!" Wilbur complained. This girl was strong!

"I see right through you! Tell me! Who sent you?" She hissed, strengthening her grip on Wilbur's and Violet's collars.

The two looked at each other.

"Great job, Violet!" Wilbur said sarcastically.

"N-no one sent us! I really am you!" Violet explained desperately.

"So, you say that you've time traveled? Then I would've done that also, wouldn't I?! So why can't I remember?!"

Shocked, younger Violet looked at Wilbur.

"How can that be?" She whimpered. Wilbur only shrugged in confusion.

"I don't know why you haven't done it! The reason why I took the time machine in the first place was to prevent what happened with the cryostasis capsule!"

The older Violet stopped short.

"Cryo-what?" Wilbur asked confusedly.

"Cryostasis cap-" Violet began to explain, but suddenly her older self hauled her off.

"Are you crazy?! You can't just blurt all this out like that!" She hissed. Then she released her younger self, surveying her closely.

"So, you know about the cryostasis capsule." Her older self began slowly.

This gave the younger Violet an idea. "That's it! If I am you, then I know everything about your life! Ask me anything!" She blurted out.

The older Vi looked around. She couldn't believe that she was really believing this story.

"Okay," she said uneasily. "When and where did I kiss Tony Rydinger for the first time?"

Violet's jaw dropped. Perhaps there was more differences between her and her future self then she thought, because she had NEVER kissed Tony Rydinger!

"Well?" Her older self asked impatiently.

Violet gulped, glancing towards Wilbur, who was still leaning against the wall, watching them.

"That's a trick question," she said finally, "I've never done that."

"What color was the toy that I won for Dash at the fair when I was nine?" The older Violet continued untouched.

"Purple!" Violet answered. She knew that.

"Wrong!" Her older self exclaimed, grabbing her arm. Then she moved back to Wilbur and pulled both of them back towards the road. "You can tell the rest the police!"

"What?" Wilbur shrieked in shock. His mother would bite his head off if she had to pick him up from the police station!

"But it was purple!" Vi cried, trying desperately to escape of the firm grip of her future self.

"No, it was blue!" Said the older Vi triumphantly.  
"But when I won it, it was purple! And - and then Mom accidentally put it into the washing machine with Dad's shirts! Then, it was blue and Dad's shirts were all purple! And he got all furious about it, and he wanted to tear off the teddy bear's head, and then Dash started to cry - " Violet blurted out, almost as if a tidal wave of memories had overwhelmed her.

The older Violet suddenly released them. Wilbur and Violet stopped and rubbed their aching arms.

The older Violet stood in front of them, trying to take it all in. "So, either you are really from the past," she began hesitantly, "or the bad guys developed a way to project my consciousness into a clone..."

Violet looked over to Wilbur. He sighed resignedly.

"Okay, it's true. We are from the past." He admitted.

"And what the heck are you doing here?" the older Violet responded.

Wilbur looked towards Violet. He would have liked to know that as well.

"I -"

"Yeah! You wanted to prevent that incident in the past," Her older self interrupted, "Are you aware of what you might cause, if you change the time stream? This is dangerous!"

"Yeah, Violet! This is dangerous!" Wilbur mocked.

Violet made a face. It was bad enough that her older self picked on her, now the little brat had to do the same.

"But I want my old life back!" she muttered offendedly.

The older Violet took her aside and walked a bit further with her, so that Wilbur couldn't hear them.

"I would like to have my life back too. But that doesn't mean that you can put the lives of these people on the line!"

"But - "

"I can't believe you did that." Her older self whispered, shaking her head. It was hard to hear it from herself that way. Violet was disappointed in herself.

"Actually, I haven't done it. I didn't even land in the past. They'll send us back, and then they'll probably deep-freeze me again, because I always screw up." Younger Violet whispered sadly. She tried not to start crying.  
Her older self put a hand on her shoulder. Together, they went back to Wilbur.

"Then, we'd bring better you back.." She said. That was just all right with Wilbur. He breathed a sigh of relief. They walked back towards the street.

"Actually, I only wanted to know what happened to Robac. Was he caught?" Violet asked her older self, when she picked up her courage again.

"Ro-...bac?" Repeated her future self slowly.

"Who is Robac?" Wilbur asked curiously. He finally wanted to know what was going on here.

"Robac is Cobra." Vi said shortly.

"And who is Cobra?" Wilbur asked again.

"He - he was the one who pushed me in the cryostasis capsule." She replied.

"Okay, and what is this cryo-whosit again?"

But Vi didn't answer the question. She had turned around.

The older Violet was rooted on the spot. Stunned, she stared at them.

"You... you know who Cobra is?!" She asked incredulously.

"Yes. But you should know it too.... shouldn't you?"

The older Vi just stared at her. Wilbur and Violet shared a glance. Then suddenly, she rushed towards them in amazement.

"How did you found that out?" she exclaimed excitedly. Younger Violet jerked back in surprise.

"I ... researched it?" She squeaked.

"What's his name?" Her older self asked impatiently, grabbing her arm again.

"Robac! Christian Robac! He was - "

"Shh! Come on!" Interrupted her future self. Then, she grabbed Wilbur's arm and dragged the two out on the street.

"You know, I'm getting tired of being dragged everywhere," Wilbur grumbled.


	22. Chapter 21

Dear readers... I'm very sorry for the delay, but some... well... organizationally problems occurred... ^__^; I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!

Don't forget to review! 3

* * *

"Hey! Where are we going?" Wilbur asked, trying to disengage from the older Violet's firm grip.

"To research." She said simply, pulling the two small ones across the street.

They went to the library. Wilbur groaned. Why the library, of all places? It was the most boring place on the planet!

Inside, Older Violet finally released the two time travelers, in order to not attract more attention than necessary. But the lady behind the reception desk didn't notice them anyway. She was too busy yelling at an innocent trainee, because the phone system wasn't working.

Wilbur toyed with the idea of running away, but he decided that he wanted to know what all this was about.

They went to one of the information cells. The older Violet sat in the chair and immediately typed in the search term "Robac".

It took a while for them to find the right information.

"Robac, Christian ... school, university ... Robac Industries ... Prison for tax evasion ..." Older Violet murmured as she read.

Wilbur was bored. He strolled casually up to one of the shelves. Then, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Comics?" He wondered, looking up.

The whole shelf was full of comics.

"Awesome!"

"Doesn't look very much like the biography of a super-villain to me," The older Violet finally concluded. "No entries since the past five years," she added after a while. Then she turned to the other Violet. "What year do you come from anyway?"

"Erm..."

"2037!" Wilbur shouted over to them, standing a little further away and thumbing causally through a comic book.

"Four years ago." Her older self added thoughtfully.

"In my time, he's only been out of prison for one year." The younger Violet stated.

"That fits," her older self replied, "Then, he went into hiding and got a new identity.""Exactly."

"And you hoped that I could tell you who he is?" Older Violet asked.

"Yes ... I thought you had found it out in the meantime."

The older Violet nodded thoughtfully. Then, she shrugged and stood up.

"Well ... I'm sorry that I can't help you." She said, pushing Violet in the direction of the exit.

"What? That's it?! Don't you want to find him?!" Younger Violet asked in disbelief.

"What for? The guy is really old now. And there isn't the slightest proof that he really is Cobra. And even if ..." Older Vi paused, then brushed the thought out of her mind. "Besides, he's served his sentence already. He's no longer dangerous."

Violet fought against her older self, finally managing to push her back to the information cell. "You can't be serious! This guy is totally dangerous!" She exclaimed.

Her older self looked around uncomfortably. Some people, who felt disturbed by the noise, were already glancing in their direction.

"What do you want?!" She whispered loudly, "There are no further entries about him!"

"Of course there are! You're just too lazy to look for them!"

The old Violet couldn't stand getting insulted by herself in such a way. She went back to the information cell reluctantly.

"How did you come up with the idea that this guy is Cobra?"

"Don't you get it?! COBRA is ROBAC!"

Her older self needed a moment. Violet could nearly see her older self putting the letters in her mind in the right order. Once she had realized, the older Violet stared at her in shock.

"It's not that difficult, is it?" Violet said, with a smile. They both started another search.

But after a few minutes, they discovered that there really were no more entries about Christian Robac.

"That can't be possible! The verdict ... the reports ... where's all that stuff?" Violet asked desperately.

"Maybe he deleted it." Wilbur spoke up, walking over towards them again.  
Both Violets turned around and stared at him, making him a little uncomfortable.

"I - I just thought... you know..." he stammered, looking at the ground.

"He's wiped out his past ... so that nobody could find a connection." Violet said thoughtfully.

"But that's impossible!" Her older self exclaimed, "You can't simply delete information. There is absolutely no way! You must be at one of the top positions in order to -"

"Before he wanted to carry out his plan at that time, he was a big shot too." Violet interrupted. Her older self only looked at her dumbfounded. Of course, she knew nothing about Robac's position and his connection to Buddy Pine.

It irked Violet that her booklet with the information she had gathered was in her backpack... on the bottom of the lake. It would have made this whole thing much easier.

"Whatever." Her older self muttered, getting up to leave.

"You just don't get the seriousness of the situation! The guy went to school with Buddy Pine and worked together with Syncorp later! He has killed more than fifty people and clones with illegal experiments." Violet whispered urgently. "And now, he's on the loose!" She added.

Wilbur gulped. Maybe he didn't actually want to know what exactly was going on here. He looked at the picture on the information screen, the mug-shot of this Robac guy.

The photo showed a man in his late 20s, looking grimly into the camera and holding a sign with his prisoner number in his hands. He was neatly dressed and wore elegant designer glasses...

Wilbur suddenly became pale and his heart skipped a beat!

He knew this guy!

"We don't want to exaggerate." Older Violet said nonchalantly, "I am grateful that you told me about it, and I am going to take care of it as soon as I have time."

Violet couldn't believe her older self's indifference. She absolutely didn't seem to care

"When you have time?!" she repeated, completely stunned.

"Which means: not today!" The older Violet snapped. The ball was tonight, and enough unexpected things had happened today already.  
"But -!"

"NOT ... TODAY!" Older Vi stood up abruptly and pushed her younger self in the direction of the exit. Then, she called to Wilbur, who was still standing in front of the screen with his back turned to them.

"Come on, Junior!"

But Wilbur didn't move.

"Wait a sec." He finally said, so quietly that the two girls could barely heard him.

Both Violets looked at each other.

"What's wrong with him?" Asked the older one. Violet only shrugged. They walked back to him. He was pale and stared at the photo on the screen.

The older Violet didn't understand what was going on. "We need to go, Junior " She ordered.

"Do you know that guy?" Asked her younger self suddenly.

The older Violet hadn't even thought of this idea yet. Suddenly, she got a strange feeling in her stomach - a feeling she got whenever something bad was about to happen.

"I'm not sure ..." Wilbur said hesitantly. "But he looks like my father's business partner." He looked at the two Violets.

Vi noticed how difficult it was for him to admit that. But her older self only groaned in annoyance.

"I can just forget about the ball this year!" She grumbled.

"Who is that guy?" Violet asked, paying no attention to her older self.

Wilbur pondered for a few seconds. "Tenner." He said finally.

"First name?" The older Violet nagged.

"No idea!" Wilbur nagged back. But even before the older Violet could say anything, she already knew the answer.

Christian Robac was now Christian Tenner, the director of one of the largest companies in this country. The factories that produced the components for Robinson Industries....

Now she had a very, very uneasy feeling.  
She needed to call Jack. He could certainly find out more. And as soon they had evidence, they could arrest him!

She suddenly grabbed the two time travelers and pulled them out of the library.  
"Come on! Hurry up!"

* * *

Wilbur put on his sunglasses when he left the main building of Robinson Industries.

But after a few steps, he froze in horror.

The top of Lady Crema was down, and the two kids were gone!

He ran to the car.

They were really gone!

He was so astonished that he simply reacted without thinking. He got behind the wheel. His heart raced! Panic overcame him!

That's when he suddenly realized that he actually didn't know where he should drive. He got out again and looked around in panic.

Where the heck were those kids?! What should he do now?! He pondered desperately.

Where would he go...? Comic book store... cinema... ice cream shop ...

That was stupid! Parr was with him, and she obviously had messed things up!

The two were on the run! They wouldn't stop to eat ice cream!

Oh God, his parents would kill him! But only if his existence wasn't wiped out first!

"Hey Junior! I think these are yours!"

Wilbur recognized the voice immediately. But he didn't turn around at first. He had to swallow his anger, or else he would explode.

Of all people the two could have met, of all the inhabitants of TodayLand, it had to be HER!

Why Parr?!  
Why did he deserve that ...?

He turned around. Violet came towards him with the two young teenagers in tow, grinning spitefully. Her red dress blew in the slight summer breeze, and her wavy hair bounced up and down with each step.

"You're really a great babysitter!" She said sarcastically, pushing the two teenagers over to him.  
She seemed to be enjoying this moment.

Great. Parr would never let him live this down!

"If I wasn't here, then both of our lives would be wiped out already... although if you were gone, that wouldn't be such a loss now would it?" Violet said triumphantly.

"Hey!" Younger Wilbur complained, but nobody noticed him.

"Why don't you just go and buy some shoes ... or a new wig!" Older Wilbur shot back.

"Well, you probably don't realize this, but there are people who can't afford to throw their money down the drain!" She said, waving her arms in emphasis.

That hit him. He was powerless against her 'you-rich-spoiled-brat' arguments. It was true; he WAS the son of the richest family of TodayLand...

"Anything else?" He asked irritably, not even trying to hide his miserable mood.

"You should be more careful with these two! Less hair styling, more attention!" She said snottily. Wilbur just growled.

"If you don't have anything more constructive to add, then get lost! Don't you need a manicure...or plastic surgery?" Wilbur could barely hold back his anger.

Violet fumed. She couldn't stand it when he talked to her like that. She had a good mind to smack him in the face. But then her gaze fell on the two time travelers.

"We shouldn't argue in front of the kids, Junior." she said sarcastically.

"Get lost! And stop calling me Junior!" Wilbur nearly shouted.

"Awwww! No reason to be testy, Junior! Nothing happened! Well, I'll see you at the ball tonight, Juuuuunior!" She said. She always gloated over his extremely annoyed facial expression when she called him 'Junior', but when she talked about the ball, his eyes darkened.  
Violet concluded that Junior apparently wouldn't be going there. She began to smirk contentedly.

"Oh, aha! Then have fun ... tonight ... at home... babysitting!" She laughed gleefully. Then she turned on her heels and went.

Wilbur waved his arms and gritted his teeth.

"Muah! I hate that woman! She is so opinionated and arrogant! She - "

"Ahem!" His younger self interrupted, pointing to the younger Violet.

"Oh ... well ... You - you can't understand this!" He muttered.

Then he remembered why he was in this situation in the first place.

"What the heck have you done? I told you not to leave the car -"

"That was my fault!" Violet blurted out, "Again ... I, erm .. I wanted to..."

When the old Wilbur heard little Parr stammer like that, his ferocity instantly vanished. He wasn't angry anymore.

"Whatever," he sighed. "Get in. We're going home."

* * *

Violet went back to the side street, where her bike was hidden behind a waste container. There, she took out her cell phone - a small, pink object with an integrated mirror, more like a compact mirror than a phone. She tried to call Jack to tell him about her important discovery .... but her cell phone didn't work. There was no signal ... no reception.

About thirty years ago, this kind of thing occurred quite often, but in the future it was absolutely impossible!

Was her cell phone busted? Perhaps from the crash when Junior knocked her over?

She couldn't reach Flame or Emely as well.

Her cell phone had a full battery, so it couldn't have died.

She took her bike and pushed it along the main road. She wanted to concentrate on the ball again, but she simply couldn't stop thinking about this other issue. She still had this strange feeling in her stomach, and that meant that something was going on.

She tried to remember the last time her phone simply didn't work. Suddenly, her mind flashed back to that fateful night ...

"Why haven't you answered the phone? We tried to call here about 15 times!" Mrs. Parker's angy voice echoed in her mind, like it was yesterday.

"No reception ..." she noted once again.

That couldn't be! The cell phone network went over geostationary satellites, which guaranteed reliable reception at any point of the world.

Did something happen to the satellites?

Suddenly, everything was clear in her mind! The plane crash! The phone! The blackout!

Violet felt almost dizzy when the thoughts raced through her mind!

She had read about the plane crash on the evening of her disappearance. The electronics had failed in three jet engines ... at the same time! Then Mrs. Parker couldn't reach her because the phone network didn't work, and then there was the power outage!

The memory of a shining green crystal came to her mind.

Cobra had somehow managed to suck the energy from the whole atmosphere, and the telephone and electricity networks, into the energy crystal!

Her gaze fell on her cell phone, which she still held in her trembling hand.

The cell phone had no reception, because the satellites' energy had been drained.

She remembered that the phone in the library hadn't worked either ...

The phone network was separated from the electricity network, so the electricity was still working ... but that surely wouldn't last for long!

She tried to remember everything that she had learned in school about energy management.  
The magnetic power plants, which supplied the city with electricity, were practically unlimited sources of energy!

If their energy could be harnessed, Cobra would have a weapon of unimaginable destructive power!

And the Robinson Ball, to which hundreds of important people were invited, was the perfect date for such an offense.  
Violet pondered hastily. She couldn't reach the others! She had to get into their secret hiding place as quickly as possible before the power went out! With their super computer, she could perhaps analyze the source - the point to which the energy streamed to.

But how could she get there so fast?

If the crystal extracted the energy from the atmosphere, then all the flying cars wouldn't work next!

But there was one car in this city that didn't run on electricity!

Violet let her broken bike fall, and ran like lightning back to the main building, but Wilbur's car was already gone ...


	23. Chapter 22

A giant screen displayed a satellite image of the city. Beside it, various stats and indications blinked.

A content, yet evil, laughter echoed through the darkened hall. After such a long time, he would finally complete his plan.

"It's time." The older man in a suit and tie said to the person standing beside him.

Robac, known for many years as Christian Tenner, decided at his age to do away with the criminal identity and the mask. It wasn't necessary.

This was his last attempt. If he failed again, he would stay in jail until his death.

"Have you inserted the crystal?" He asked.

"Yes, master. The initiation process has started already." Alpha replied.

"The other clones are ready?"

"They are waiting for your orders."

"Very good ..."

Robac pressed a button. The picture changed, no longer showing the city, but the feed from a surveillance camera in the main building of Robinson Industries. On the camera, he could see Cornelius Robinson - how Robac hated that genius.

Actually, it was the pure envy.

Robinson had completely changed the world only with his naive goal to improve people's lives. And without a direct benefit for himself.

Robac had observed his development through all the years he had been in prison.

Robinson had created a world in which everyone could be content, and he had the opportunity to do what made him happy.

But that was what made this nitwit blind to truth. For example, the truth that one of his major business partners was just waiting for the opportunity to erase him from existence!

"I am so sorry that I won't come tonight, Mr. Robinson," Robac said, feigning regret. "We finally made it!" He added, his voice confident and full of victory. For past few years, the only emotion he felt had been hatred, but now he was almost euphoric.  
The displays showed that the energy was increasing rapidly and was nearly half full. There was so much energy available - almost an unlimited supply!  
Ironically, it was because of Cornelius Robinson that Robac was able to develop the technology for a new and better weapon, which had an unprecedented destructive power.

The crystal could emit about more than 100 times the energy it had before! And he alone would have control of it! He alone would decide the fate of millions of people! That made him almost like God!

"The Robinson empire will be smashed, and the legislature of our country will be destroyed! And I will take over the world! And everybody will bend to my will! Tonight!"

Robac could hardly wait. In a short time, he would be able to destroy this shabby city with a single push of a button.

"It's ironic that Cornelius Robinson himself actually made it possible for me to develop my technologies so that I can take what I deserve! We could've used a wise guy like him."

His voice sounded almost regretful. Perhaps he should have created a clone of Robinson as well...

The energy status was already at 48%.

"It will not be long until the weapon is ready. And then every city, every state, every country will tremble before me!" He laughed cruelly.

Then he noticed Alpha, still standing in the same place - motionless and without any visible emotion.

"My faithful assistant, soon you and the others will no longer have to go into hiding. Soon you will no longer be treated as outcasts, but as kings!"

That wasn't honest at all, but Alpha would never find that out - because although he could read thoughts and manipulate minds, Robac had programmed Alpha in such a way that he wasn't capable of reading his creator's thoughts.

However, Alpha was a clone of himself - and if he happened to develop the same paranoid power hunger like the real Robac, Alpha could become a dangerous risk. That's why Robac would need to get rid of his clone as soon as possible.

Speaking of risks...

"Nothing will go wrong today."

It was time for phase three of his four phase plan.  
Phase one - get the crystal.

Phase 2 - construct the weapon.

Phase 3 ...

"This time Invisigirl won't stand in my way!"

Robac pressed a button. Above the control desk, a big tray opened. A robotic arm folded out, while liquid nitrogen swelled at the sites and evaporated. On top of it, there was a small glass cylinder, which appeared to be empty. Only upon closer inspection, it became clear that a single dark hair was inside.

"It certainly was kind of that scientist from the Robinson laboratory - may he rest in peace - to provide us with this valuable DNA sample of the person that he found in the cryostasis capsule four years ago."

The vacuum-cylinder opened with a hiss. Robac carefully picked up the hair with tweezers and looked at it triumphantly.

"Oh sweet, sweet revenge!"

He put the hair into a little, floating machine. Suddenly, it raced through the room and then came to an abrupt stop in front of a huge metal device. Then red laser beams shot from the device and scanned the hair.

Suddenly, the image on the screen changed. A DNA profile rotated on one half of the screen.  
This whole process took only a few seconds.

"Computer - Start search!" Robac cried.

On the other half of the screen, other DNA-profiles flashed over.

In the future, the DNA code became an essential part of an identity card. Each citizen was genetically documented.

Suddenly, the search stopped. The two double helixes rotated slowly side by side. Then the computer put the DNA-profiles over each other. They were identical.

"100% match," said a metallic computer voice. Then a file opened.

"Object: Parr, Violet. Age: 18. Size: 5 ft, 6 ½ in. Weight: 110 lbs. Eye color: Blue. 100% match."

"Computer: search object!" Robac cried again.

A map of the city appeared and a crosshair raced over it.  
Finally, the computer fixed at a point, which was moving slowly.

"Alpha, send the robots! And prepare a nice welcome for our guest!"

Alpha nodded, leaving the dark hall.

Robac looked at the red moving point, rubbing his hands in satisfaction.

What Robac didn't realize with his human senses was that the search lasted about 2 hundredths of a second longer than it should. For computer standards, that was an eternity!

The computer was confused. It found two DNA-profiles that complied with the requested DNA. That, however, conflicted it's programming.

The computer solved the problem by simply preferring the DNA-profile with the biggest similarity to the given DNA-sample.

* * *

"She will ground me for the rest of my life! Are you happy now?" The older Wilbur complained, while the Lady Crema drove slowly through the city traffic.

Neither Wilbur nor Violet paid any attention to him.

"I still don't understand. Tenner is Robac ..." The younger Wilbur whispered.

"And Robac is Cobra." Violet replied.

"And he wants to do what?"

Well, how could Violet explain this?

"In the past, he has tried to destroy a few major cities. But his plan didn't work ..."

"Why?" Wilbur asked.

"I - uh... he got stopped." She almost slipped up, and Wilbur noticed.

"Who stopped him?" He asked skeptically.

"No idea who it was." She lied. But she couldn't resist smiling, so she looked out of the window. TodayLand looked wonderful on this day. And for the first time, Violet didn't have the feeling that her former plan had failed or was useless. After all, if she hadn't intervened, there would be no city at this place certainly.

Suddenly, the car stopped abruptly, causing Wilbur and Violet to fall forward.

"Are you crazy!?" cried the old Wilbur. Only now Vi and Wilbur recognized why they had slowed down so unexpectedly. In front of the car stood the older Violet, leaning with both hands on the front of the car.

"I could've knocked you over!" Wilbur growled.

"Wouldn't be the first time today!" replied the older Violet soberly, then she came around the car, bent over on the passenger side and opened the glove compartment.

"What are you doing?!" The older Wilbur cried, as he watched Vi take his cell phone out of the glove compartment. He wanted to take it from her, but she was too fast. She dialed a number, but nothing happened.

"Here you go!" she said, throwing the cell phone in Wilbur's lap. Then she turned to the two younger teenagers. "It's happening now!"

"What? But how do you know that?" Her smaller self asked in astonishment.

"The phone doesn't work! Think about it!"

Amazingly, her younger self immediately understood.

"Mrs. Parker tried to call me ..." Violet said slowly, while she remembered.

"I didn't hear it because it never rang! And then the power outage! And my communicator didn't work either!" Her older self bubbled excitedly.

"The crystal..." Younger Violet began.

"...absorbs the energy from the atmosphere!" Her older self finished.

"The plane crash!" They both cried simultaneously.

Both Wilburs understood absolutely nothing. There hadn't been any power outages or plane crashes in decades.

What the heck were they talking about?

"You mean it's starting now?!" The younger Violet cried in horror.  
"What's starting?" asked the older Wilbur irritated.

"I need your car!" Older Violet said, as if it was the most natural request in the world. Wilbur had to laugh.

"Of course, do you seriously think I would let you drive?"

"You don't have to let me drive, idiot! Just drop me off somewhere!" She said in annoyance, coming over to him on the driver's side.

"Sure! Of course!" He laughed scornfully.

"This is the least you can do after you made my bike ready for the junkyard! The fate of this city depends on you now!"

That made Wilbur laugh even more.

"Wilbur Robinson!" They suddenly heard a loud, bitchy voice from the sidewalk. All of them turned around. A pretty brunette girl in a blue rockabilly dress and matching boots stamped furiously over to the passenger side of the car, her hands akimbo.

"Lucy!" Wilbur cried out in surprise, "What ... what are you doing here?"

"Hi Lucy!" Violet exclaimed, in a over-friendly manner, while she leaned casually on the driver's door, so that her face was very close to Wilbur's. Things could be misinterpreted very easily - and that was exactly what Violet intended. Wilbur really wanted to push her away.

"So, is that your sick sister?!" Lucy cried jealously. Wilbur slipped over to the passenger side to explain the situation to her.

"I thought you couldn't stand her!" she screamed.

"Listen, it isn't how it looks...-"

He was interrupted by a resounding slap in his face. The young Wilbur jerked, as if he had gotten the slap.

"You can go to your stupid ball alone!" Lucy screamed angrily, storming away.

Wilbur needed a few seconds to recover from the slap. He had never been beaten by a girl...

"Umm ... does this mean that it's over?" He called after her. He was taken aback, surprised that he didn't even felt the slightest hint of regret. But Parr didn't know that, and this was finally enough of a reason to tell her off!  
"Are you happy now!? That was -"

Suddenly, he heard the driver's door slam shut. He jerked around. Violet was sitting in the driver's seat and starting the engine. Wilbur's eyes almost fell out of his head.

"What the -? Oh no! You can completely forget it! You're not going anywhere with THIS CAR!" He shouted, now totally livid.

Violet threw a cool glance at him. "I'm only borrowing it for a little while."

Before he could respond, they drove off.

"Be careful! The clutch is very -" There was a loud creak as Violet pushed on it.

"- sensitive! Watch out! Let me drive!" Wilbur whined. It pained him to hear his car suffer like that.

"If you can't keep your mouth shut, then get out!" Violet growled. She had to concentrate on other, more important things. She had to reach the others, but without the phone that would be difficult - even in the future. And her communicator was in her suit - and that was in their hideout. She could drive to Emely, but she probably wouldn't have enough time. She had to get to their secret hiding place before the power blackout. And what if she couldn't reach her nieces? Or if she couldn't get to their secret hiding place in time? These, and thousand other problems raced through her head.

Wilbur, meanwhile, was incredibly insulted. "I don't have to take that from you! This is MY car!"

"But I'm driving it! So be quiet! I have to concentrate!"

Wilbur chuckled. "If you want to call this 'driving'!"

"What does that mean?" Violet asked irritably.

"My grandma drives better!" Wilbur said saucily.

"Oh yeah?! Well, at least I don't stop in front of every store window to look at my reflection and style my hair!" Violet spat back.

"Maybe you should do that every now and then! It couldn't hurt!"

"You're worse than a girl!" Violet exclaimed.

"I can only return that compliment!"

"This is so typical! You're just a priggish, arrogant, spoiled snob!"  
"Oh, come on! I'm not nearly as haughty and snotty as you!"

"Where do you get the right to judge me? You don't know me at all!"

"Oh, and I suppose you know me so much better than I know you!"

The two young teenagers in the backseat were absolutely stunned by this performance.

"Now, calm down..." Younger Violet interrupted, wanting to calm the situation. Moreover, the behavior of her older self was quite embarrassing for her.

"Shut up!" The two brawlers shouted at her simultaneously.

"Don't shout at me!" Snubbed the older Violet to the older Wilbur.

"You stop shouting at me!" Wilbur nagged back.

"No, you -"

"Watch out!" Younger Wilbur screamed. The two older ones turned their heads simultaneously. A large, round floating truck came towards them!

With a skillful maneuver, Violet avoided a crash just in time. Wilbur himself couldn't have done it better.

After the shock, everybody was silent.

"Wilbur! Wilbur! Where are we going?" A small voice from the back exclaimed suddenly. The young teenagers in the backseat turned around. Above the back rest of the seat hung a sweet, little girl.

"Wilma! What are you doing here?" The older Wilbur cried, stunned to see his sister.

"Rehearsing with Mom is boring." Wilma said, letting her arms dangle on the back. Then she looked at the younger Wilbur on her right side. "Hi!" She said with a wave.

Wilbur wasn't able to say anything. He only stared at the little girl.

"Get in the car seat!" The older Wilbur ordered.

"But I hate the car seat!" Wilma complained.

"Put her in the child car seat and buckle her seatbelt!" Wilbur demanded his younger self. Then he turned to the older Violet sitting next to him, his tone suddenly very different. "And you, drive carefully when my sister here!"

Violet just nodded. She was somewhere else with her thoughts.

The younger Wilbur took the little girl and put her in the child car seat. It suddenly clicked in his mind. Did his older self really say 'sister'?

He buckled Wilma up, while she made an offended face. Wilbur still couldn't believe it. He simply couldn't stop staring at her. This was his sister?

Wilma turned to younger Violet, who was wearing a tense expression on her face.

"Hi!" Wilma said cheerfully, but Violet didn't respond. She was too lost in thought. Wilma tapped her on the arm and got her attention.

"Hi ..." Violet replied slowly.

"I'm Wilma Robinson! What's your name?"

"Violet." She answered kindly. Wilma seemed satisfied with her reply. But then she suddenly stared at Violet with wide eyes.

"Wilbur! Wilbur! She looks exactly like the girl you are in love with!" She called to her brother.

Both Wilburs became pale.

In the past, Wilbur had to explain to his little sister that he absolutely couldn't stand Parr, and that they were constantly arguing. But Wilma was very wise for her age. She somehow understood that there had to be more behind it. Why else would her brother be annoyed with the same girl each day for years? She was absolutely convinced that he actually liked this girl, because, as she once heard her mother say, "The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love."

"That girl... what was her name again? Vivien? Or Viola? Or," Wilma turned to Violet, "what's your name again?"

"Violet..."

"Yeah, Vio -"

"Heeey Honey! Wanna wear these?" The older Wilbur interrupted her by waving his sunglasses in front of Wilma's face.

"Oh, yeah!" She exclaimed happily, grabbing the sunglasses and putting them on.  
That was a close call. Wilbur wiped the sweat from the face.

He glanced at Violet out of the corner of his eye and gulped. But after a few seconds, he realized that she apparently hadn't been listening to what was going on behind her.

"He's in love with a girl that looks just like you... only she's bigger and prettier than you." Wilma whispered to Violet, so that both of the older ones couldn't hear her. Fortunately, Wilma hadn't seen the girl driving the car, otherwise she would have certainly caused a very embarrassing situation.

"Uh-huh," said Violet, looking at the younger Wilbur. When he noticed her gaze, he made a face and shrugged, as if he had no idea what the little girl was talking about. Violet smiled, but decided to let the matter rest. She knew how embarrassing it was when younger siblings blurted out certain things. But her expression became serious again. They had a much bigger problem on their hands right now...

They had left the city and were now driving through the industrial area of Todayland. Large storage depots and factory buildings lined the street on both sides. There was a lot of traffic, because it was late in the afternoon and the end of the work day, so most people were driving home now.

"Where are we even going?!" Older Wilbur asked.

"What?" Violet wasn't listening to him.

"Where are we going?!"

At that moment, Violet made a sharp curve. Then, the car stopped abruptly.

They were parked in a small side street between two giant storage depots; trash containers lined the way.

"Oh man! Didn't I tell you to drive carefully?" The older Wilbur chided.

Violet didn't respond. She got out and turned to the two time travelers.

"Well then. Good luck on your trip home. Take care," she glanced towards the older Wilbur, who had no idea of what was going on. "Maybe you could make sure that it doesn't even go that far." She continued to the two teenagers in the backseat.

"Are you sure you can handle this all alone?" Asked her younger self. She and the younger Wilbur made anxious faces.

"That you can handle what?! What do you want here anyway?!" The older Wilbur whined, while he got into the driver's seat again.  
He was about ready to shout at her. How dare she get behind the wheel of his car? He had the feeling that the Lady Crema was completely contaminated now!

"You'd better take care of them!" Violet ordered him.

Wilbur only snorted and deigned to look at her one last time.

He pushed down on the gas pedal and the Lady Crema drove off with screeching tires.

Violet looked after them. Then she went over to one of the large gates at the edge of the giant warehouse. She looked around again to make sure that nobody could see her. Then she pressed a green glowing button, which scanned her fingerprint.

But instead of opening the gate, a trapdoor opened. Violet fell directly into a transport tube, which quickly brought her into the secret hiding place of the Incredibles. Once she came out of the tube, the light turned on. She looked around in the giant hall.

"Hello! Flame! Emely?" She called out, but all she heard was her echo.

"Jack?" She called out once more, and was once again greeted by silence.

Shoot. No one was here.

Now there was only one way to reach the others: the Intercom.

In contrast to cell phones, the Intercom could reach anyone from anywhere in the world, and it was guaranteed to work for a long time.

She ran to a large control desk. Above it, several large screens were attached.

She immediately analyzed an increase of energy in a certain part of the city, but the computer had problems to locate the epicenter of the energy surge. The only thing she could find out was that it was on the other side of the city, in a sparsely populated area.

Suddenly, the screens flickered! The picture got worse!

"No! No! Please don't!"

Now, she had to hurry!

She tried to reach Flame with the Intercom.  
"Hello? Hello, Flame? Can you hear me?"

She waited ... and all she heard was hissing. But suddenly, she could hear Flame's voice - very low and faint.

"Violet! What's going on here? All the phones are out! And my Intercom isn't working right either ... "

Flame's voice was barely audible, and Violet could hardly understand her.

"Flame Search for Emely and Jack! I know who has made life difficult for us the last few years! It's Cobra!"

"The guy who buried you alive?" Flame asked.

"Yes! Now he's Tenner, THE Christian Tenner! Let's meet in 15 minutes in front of - "

"Violet? Violet! Are you still there?" Flame said suddenly.

"Flame?"

Violet heard static on the line, in the midst of a few of Flame's words. "... can't hear you. Reception is ... where ...to meet..."

"Flame! It's Tenner! Christian Tenner! On the other side of the city - "

All Violet could hear was static.

Suddenly, the lights went out. Absolute darkness filled the room!


	24. Chapter 23

Buried ... alive ... again!

Violet felt as though she couldn't breathe.

But it wasn't because she was many feet below the surface. There was a non-electronically locked emergency exit, so it wouldn't be hard to get out of there.

The real problem was this unbearable darkness!

It seemed like a sticky, dark mass threatening to drown Violet inside. She didn't dare to move even a single inch. The darkness was just one huge, fatal abyss into which she would fall as soon as she took only one step!

Violet squinted her eyes, hot tears running down her cheeks. She tried to focus on the thought that everything was just pure imagination ... that everything was okay ... and that only the light was off... nothing more...

Just simple darkness....

... but that was exactly the problem for a person who suffered from achluophobia, the fear of darkness.

She forced herself to make a few steps forward - continuously whispering to herself that everything was okay - but fear overcame her again. And now her reaction was different - her fear turned to total panic.

Violet ran off. She needed to get out here - out of this miserable darkness!

Her eyes burned, and she gasped for air while she waved her arms wildly as if she could push the darkness away. Her heart was beating so fast, that she could feel her pulse pound violently in her throat. The darkness flowed around her like a cold liquid. Something was lurking here, waiting for her!

And this silence - this deafening silence! All that Vi could hear was her own heavy breathing, her heartbeat and her steps dying away soundlessly in the giant hall.

In panic, she raced up the fire escape, painfully knocking into the railing several times. The effort made her feel queasy, but she didn't care!

Finally, she reached the emergency exit. Violet desperately tore at the handle, but the door didn't open!

With a desperate cry of fear, she threw her whole body against the door -

And suddenly, she was dazzled by a sudden rush of light.

Violet landed hard on the asphalt. She remained there, panting and sobbing.  
Afterwards, she was totally ashamed of her odd and exaggerated behavior.

She just couldn't avoid these panic attacks. Once she was in a dark room, she completely lost control over herself.

She suffered from this handicap for not very long... ever since a small incident with Alpha a few months ago...

When her mind slowly began to function again, she gradually understood who his ominous "Master" really was, who Alpha and the other clones were working for... Cobra.

It was so obvious. Why hadn't she found that out much earlier?

Violet was lying on her back with one hand on her forehead, and with the other one she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

This stupid phobia of darkness...

All of a sudden, she remembered that she forgot her suit indoors.

Crap!

She lifted her head and looked through the door. The darkness lurked threateningly in the interior of the building, causing her to panic again. She immediately jumped up and stumbled clumsily away from the door.

She would certainly not go down there anymore!

* * *

The Lady Crema drove down an empty street between the green hills, and towards Robinson mansion.

Older Wilbur sat behind the wheel. He was angry and frustrated...

Great. He would miss the ball, Lucy Duncan had dumped him in public, and Parr ... Oh, that horrible girl! Somehow it was all her fault!

"What's wrong with that girl?! She's completely crazy! She must be insane...! Man!" He railed irritated to calm down.

"Hey I'm sitting right behind you!" Violet complained, slowly starting to take it personally.

"You be quiet! It's because of you that we're in this mess!" He snapped at her.  
Violet folded her arms and sulked. Sure ... it was her fault ... but c'mon, this guy had no idea what was going on here. If he knew what was at risk, he certainly wouldn't be so spiteful.

"That's still no reason to be so insulting." She replied sheepishly.

"Oh really? Well, I'd say that I have best reason ever! You stole a time machine - how stupid is that?!"

"Shut up!" His younger self suddenly exclaimed. He couldn't stand watching his older self picking on Violet. "Pick on someone else if you really need to take out your anger!"

Wilma swallowed. Usually, she was the scapegoat when her brother was in a bad mood. But if this boy - who looked almost exactly like her brother - was able to defy him, then she could do it too.

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!" She piped up.

Violet and Wilbur couldn't resist grinning.

"Exactly!" Wilbur said, patting his sister-to-be's head.

"High five!" She exclaimed, grinning triumphantly. She slapped the younger Wilbur's hand, while the older Wilbur dug his fingers into the leather of the steering wheel.

Great, now even the little ones mocked him. Could this day get any worse?

Suddenly, a huge metal object crashed on the street directly in front of them. The ground trembled and the asphalt cracked under the pressure. Wilbur barely managed to avoid a crash, and then jammed on the brake automatically.

Two more robotic legs crashed into the ground right next to them. They all stared upwards in shock. Just above them stood a gigantic spherical robot.

Violet thought at first it was Syndrome's Omnidroid.

"Out of the car!" Older Wilbur ordered, while he pulled Wilma from the child car seat. They jumped out of the car and ran in different directions.

Suddenly, there seemed to be a storm! The jet engines of the robot stirred up dirt and dust, and they could hardly see anything. The air was hot like a furnace!

A large beam of light followed Violet and fixed on her, penetrating the dust. She jerked around.  
At that moment, she was blinded by a bright blue light - and shortly afterwards, she couldn't move anymore.

She knew this feeling! It was the same feeling that she had when she was trapped in Syndrome's zero-point energy laser. She wanted to disengage from it, to call for help, but she was paralyzed!  
The younger Wilbur turned around in panic and searched for Violet. When he couldn't find her, he stopped. He wouldn't leave here without her!

"What are you doing? Come on!" His older self yelled, pulling him further.

Then the younger Wilbur saw Violet. She was standing on the opposite side, about sixty feet away, motionless and surrounded by a bright blue light.

Without thinking about it, Wilbur broke away and ran over to her as fast as he could in order to help, ignoring the cries of his older self...

Vi could only move her eyes. She discovered Wilbur, making through the artificial storm towards her! She wanted to scream out, telling him to stay away! But it was too late ...

Wilbur had actually imagined that he would simply push Violet out of this light field ... but he didn't expect what happened next.

Before he could even touch her, the light field quickly surrounded him. Suddenly, he couldn't move anymore - frozen in the middle of a jump!

Then, all of the sudden, they left the ground. Helplessly, they felt the blue light lift them into the interior of the robot.

Wilbur could only move his eyes. He looked around hectically, his mind desperately trying to understand what was happening!

His heart pounded in panic! This couldn't be happening! Maybe he was actually still lying in the backseat of the time machine, and this was all just a dream...

Then his eyes met Violet's... and Wilbur's panic vanished.

Even though they had been kidnaped by a gigantic killer robot - the situation wasn't completely hopeless. At least, they were together ...

Meanwhile the older Wilbur, with his little sister in his arms, stood desperately on the ground.  
He wanted to shout and scream, but that would have changed nothing. He had to watch helplessly as the two teenagers were kidnaped by the giant robot! The blue laser beam lifted them into the bunt of the robot. Once the hold was closed, he heard a deafening roar.

Wilma shrieked!

The heat was almost unbearable as the jet engines hauled the giant mass of the robot into the air. Dirt and dust clouded their view. The particles shot through the air and stung their skin - it felt almost like sandpaper...

Wilbur squatted down and wrapped his arms around Wilma, using his body as a shield to protect her.

Gradually, the noise of the jet engines died, and the stormy winds disappeared ...

Everything was calm....

When the dust cleared away, Wilbur slowly lifted his head.

The robot was gone. The only thing he saw was the Lady Crema, with her engine still running. The asphalt was destroyed by the deep imprints of the robot feet. Everything was covered with sand and dust.

This couldn't be true ... this had to be a bad dream! And when he woke up, he would just laugh about it ...

"Look!" Wilma pointed to the sky. Wilbur looked up. The robot was just vanishing in the clouds...

* * *

It was nearly sunset already...

Violet ran down the street. She couldn't believe that she had to cover the whole distance on foot... with high heels!

She had no suit, no weapons, and no vehicle - not even her chic black and red motorcycle. All these things were in their hideout!

Of course, the weapons and the motorcycle wouldn't work without energy anyway ... but it was too bad about the suit ...

Crap!

The weather was still nice; the sky became red slowly... only a few purple clouds flew over the country.

It absolutely wasn't like last time, 36 years ago...

Cobra must have found a way to prevent the storm that developed during the charging of the crystal...

That meant that there wouldn't be green lightings to guide her to his hideout this time.  
Violet would have really liked to smoke a cigarette now... she used to do that when she was in trouble (though her family would literally kill her when they would ever find out).

But she also forgot her handbag in their secret hideout...

Double crap!

Though - in this very moment, she decided to stop smoking. She was completely out of breath from running. And her feet hurt!

When she ran over a hill and the view of the city appeared in front of her, she stopped short ...

Something was different. Violet needed a few seconds to realize what it was.

The traffic ... the entire bustle in and out of the city .... was gone. Nothing moved.

Now, she suddenly realized the silence. No hologram advertisements, no monorails, no cars, and not a single siren was heard!

Absolute silence!

It was spooky!

Hopefully nobody had been hurt, when the energy supply collapsed ...

Violet ran further. But after a short time, she heard an engine noise. There was only one vehicle that could still drive now, and that was -

Relieved, Violet turned around. That was THE solution! With Junior's car, she could get to the other end of town much faster! Finally, something good was happening today!

The Lady Crema raced down the street, but the paint didn't seem as creamy as usual .. a lot of dust swirled behind the car.

Violet walked into the street and waved. But when the car came closer, this strange feeling in her stomach returned ...

The car stopped on the other side of the road. Violet couldn't believe her eyes. The car was completely covered with dust, and so was Junior. His hair was disheveled. He was pale and looked as if he had seen a ghost. The thing that puzzled Violet the most was his disheveled hair ... what had happened that made Junior forget about his precious hairstyle?

But when she came closer to the car, she knew the answer!  
"What happened? Where are our younger selves?" She exclaimed stunned.

Junior opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't.

"What?! Now, tell me! Where are they?" Violet cried.

"There was a robot!" Wilma reported. She was also covered with dust and looked a little confused.

"What?" Violet asked breathlessly.

"The thing suddenly appeared!" Junior blurted out. "I didn't react fast enough. I - I should've gotten away from there immediately! I - "

"This thing has taken the two?" Violet interrupted. This was a disaster! If something happened to her past self, she would no longer exist!

"And then it flew away!" Wilma concluded.

"What shall we do?" Junior cried desperately, laying his head on the steering wheel.

What a baby, Violet thought annoyedly.

"There! You did a great job once again, Junior " She snapped at him, as she went to the passenger side and got in. Wilbur immediately drove off, straight towards the city.

"Where are you going?" Violet asked.

"To my Father, if you have no problem with that!"

"Of course I have a problem with that! What do you think he could do?!"

"He'll find a way..." Wilbur's voice didn't sound very convinced.

"Typical! Whenever there's a problem, you just run to daddy!"

He really wanted to smack her for that comment. How dare she say something like that?! Wilbur couldn't believe that she was still wasting her time arguing with him - now that they really had a problem!

He wanted to yell at her, but -

"What the...?" He asked incredulously. They were driving on a highway on the outskirts of the city. Cars and other vehicles were parked everywhere, and the drivers were stunned. Nothing moved - not a single object in the sky or on the ground. Some buildings were damaged, because flying vehicles had crashed into them.

"Good Lord...."

He wanted to take the next exit and drive to his father. But suddenly Parr grabbed the steering wheel.

"Are you crazy?!"

"I know where they are!" She snapped at him.

"Even so, we still need help!"

"Yes, and how is anyone going to help without electricity? If you haven't noticed it yet - " Violet pointed outside. They were just passing a monorail station, where two trains crashed into each other because their brakes had failed, and one leaned dangerously to the side. The occupants had already been evacuated and stood around, completely stunned.

"- nothing works anymore! Your stupid car is the only one that's still driving!"

Wilbur still didn't understand what was going on...

"But - that robot was working too..."

"Oh! Don't be a wise guy!" Parr's tone was scornful.

"So, Miss Smartypants, tell me where I should drive, if you know everything." Wilbur mocked.

"You need to take the third exit."

"No way! What are you, crazy?! This robot was about 100 feet high! This is something the police should handle! Why do you think that we need to take care of this?"

"Because they are our clones!"

"They are not clones! Besides -"

"Now, just shut up and drive!" Violet shouted loudly. She was so mad, that Wilbur decided it would be best to remain quiet.


	25. Chapter 24

"I can't believe it! Why did I listen to you at all?!" Wilbur complained.

"Shut up, Junior!" Parr snapped.

She had directed him to the other end of the city. Until then, she had been quite determined, but after they had driven for five minutes through an uninhabited area, Wilbur came to the conclusion that she really didn't know where their younger versions were.

"We are wasting valuable time driving around in the middle of nowhere!" He continued to rant.

"Well, your complaining isn't doing any good! Be glad that I'm helping you, after all, YOU were the one who lost them!" Violet sneered at him. She was extremely irritated... because of Junior mostly, but also because she had no idea what she should do next. She was here, at the other end of town ... and now what?

Wilbur was annoyed. By now, they could have been able to reach Cornelius. His father certainly would have known what to do!

But no! They had to cruise around in the middle of nowhere!

Why had he let himself be convinced?!

He gritted his teeth and fixed his eyes in front of him.

Suddenly, he discovered something in the distance.

Wilbur suddenly turned into a curvy path, filled with potholes.

"What are you doing?" Parr asked in surprise.

"This building back there is brightly illuminated! Didn't you just say that there is no power anymore? Well, I think that's very suspicious!" He replied precociously.

Violet was completely astonished. She hadn't paid any attention to it... The building was quite unremarkable and ordinary. She had actually expected something like ... well, a giant laser cannon or something like that...

Violet had to admit that she had simply overlooked it. But instead of being grateful for Junior's discovery, she was even more annoyed. Now, he probably felt really smart!  
This was her mission here! He was just the chauffeur. Why was he making arbitrary decisions all of a sudden?!

She tried hard to contain herself. After all, she wasn't here as Invisigirl, but simply as Violet Parr, an ordinary girl without any super powers ...  
"Ah! And you think you could just drive into their parking area, or what?!" She asked irritably.

Wilbur shifted gears. Actually, he really had no idea what he should do next.

"Park the car there!" Violet commanded harshly, and pointed to a tree within an overgrown hedge from where the illuminated building couldn't be seen. The whole area was overgrown with hedges and brushwood, a stark contrast to the rest of Todayland...

"Please!" Wilma completed Violet's sentence. Wilbur had to grin when Violet grit her teeth.

"See? Even my little sister has better manners than you."

"Now move it, PLEASE!" Violet hissed.

Wilbur reluctantly drove the Lady Crema to the tree and parked the car. Then he climbed out.

But midway, he stopped - Parr also started to climb out of the car.

"What are you doing?" Both Vi and Wilbur asked simultaneously.

Vi answered first. "I'm going -"

"You're not going anywhere!" Wilbur interrupted strictly. "You're gonna take care of my sister, while I go in there!"

"Hello! That's your sister! You take care of her!" Violet retorted.

Wilbur clenched his fists. He knew that Parr always did the opposite of what he said, just to annoy him! But this was neither the time nor the place for this stupid game!

"And how do you plan on doing this?! You can't just ring the bell, bat your eyelashes and expect that the problem is solved!" He tried to outdo her.

It was true. She was only an annoying young woman ... what could she do?

Not to mention, she had nothing to do with this issue - except that her younger self was involved ...

The kidnappers had it in for him obviously - but accidentally caught his past self. They probably wanted ransom from his family, or something like that ..

"Sure I can! You'll see!" She said, slamming the door in his face.  
For a moment, Wilbur sat in the car, completely stunned.

If Parr had seen this giant robot-monster, she certainly wouldn't be so fearless.

"I can't believe this! That woman is just -!"

Angrily, Wilbur also got out of the car and ran after her.

"You certainly won't go alone!" He called out to her.

"Be a good little babysitter and bring your sister back home! And please try not to lose her on the way too, Junior!"

That was the last straw. Her spitefulness drove him crazy.

"If you call me 'Junior' once more -" he growled dangerously. His neck muscles tensed.

Parr turned around, folded her arms, and gave him a cool glance.

"Think 'shark-head' fits better?" She asked with a laugh, making it clear to him that she wasn't taking him seriously.

"Oh man, can't you at least be cooperative this time? Our lives are at stake! Do you seriously want to risk our lives just because you can't stop being so stubborn?" He said, slowly getting more desperate.

Parr looked away, purposefully ignoring him.

"Did you say something? I only heard something with 'blah blah', when I wasn't listening..." She replied saucily, then turned on her heels and went.

Gosh! How could this woman be so smug!

"Okay! Then go! You can annoy those guys to death!" He shouted after her.

So what! She should go alone!

Wilbur was torn. He wanted to run after Parr, but the car seemed to attract him magnetically. He had to save the two travelers, but on the other hand, he couldn't escape from family responsibilities. He simply couldn't leave his sister alone...

... his stupid, annoying sister, who always appeared when he needed her least!

"Who cares! Then our existence will be wiped out! Why not?! Then the day can't get any worse at least!" He cried exasperatedly.

"Don't wait for me!" Violet called back serenely.

Wilbur growled. Why did she always had to have the final say?!

Snorting, Wilbur stomped back to Lady Crema and got in.

"We're going home now?" Wilma asked quietly.

Wilbur laid his head on the steering wheel. He couldn't leave now.

A gigantic killer robot had kidnaped Parr's and his younger selves! If something happened to them, they both would cease to exist!

He shook his head and smiled bitterly. Parr seriously thought she could handle this problem alone.

He turned the key in the lock.

But instead of starting the car, he closed the top and turned on the special alarm system.

"You wait here." He told Wilma and got out.

"All alone?" She whined, before Wilbur closed the door. She had left the ballroom because it was so boring ... and now she had to be bored here instead?

"I'll be right back." Wilbur said, trying to sound convincing.

"Can't I come with you?"

"That's not possible, kiddo."

"But -"

"I activated the alarm. You're safe here." He said, but more to calm down himself. A part of him could hardly bring himself to leave his little sister alone.

When Wilma heard that, her eyes widened. The alarm system consisted of an invisible energy shield, which ensured that nobody without a key came too close to the car. Otherwise, that person would get a strong electric shock. Wilbur had installed this equipment after some moron had slit his precious whitewall tires...

"Oh yeah!" Wilma enthused, "Can you make it shine? Please, please!" She begged.  
Wilbur rolled his eyes. The protection shield would glow when little objects hit it, and his sister totally loved to watch that. But now, they had no time for goofing around...

Without another word, he closed the door. But when he turned around, he grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it back over his shoulder. He suddenly heard the electric shield fizzling, followed by Wilma's happy squeaking.

Wilbur had to laugh. Children were so silly... and so easy to amuse.

He threw a glance back to the Lady Crema. Nothing would happen to his sister... and even if they did get her ... every kidnapper would be so annoyed after half an hour that they would give her back voluntarily, Wilbur thought amusedly.

Then he hurried along the bumpy road after Parr.

When he came around the bend, he could see the brightly illuminated building. This whole thing was odd - the closer he came to the building, the more suspicious it seemed to him. It was flat, without windows and had a discreet brown sand color. There was no sign or logo that showed the use, the carrier, or the owner of the building.

From afar, he saw the fence that delimited the area. Barbed wire fence stretched along the top of the fence - a rare sight in the future.

Cones of light panned slowly across the terrain. Everything seemed to be thoroughly monitored. Obviously someone didn't want someone to slip in undetected.

Confused, Wilbur looked around, while he continued to approach the building.

Where was Parr? There was no way that she walked that far in such a short time...

Suddenly, he stopped. Something was moving inside the area. Wilbur gulped.

... Guards!

But not usual guards... they were robots. Heavily armed robots!

Three of them marched in lock-step along the edge of the building.

Now, in retrospect, he would have preferred to bring his sister back home, but...

...what if Parr had fallen into the hands of these robots?

* * *

Violet knelt down in the bushes and watched the robot-guards. As far as she could estimate, without a clock, the robots needed about 5 or 6 minutes to walk around the building.

Within this period, she had to get through the fence and through this air shaft into the building.

However, the air shaft was about ten feet off the ground ... and since she couldn't fly, she needed another way to get in.  
If she eliminated the three guards, she could climb on a pile of robot-remains. But maybe, the absence of the three robots would be noticed immediately.... and then she could directly walk through the main entrance. (Or at least, she could do this, if only she had her battlesuit!)

Violet hesitated. Usually, it was the three of them: Inferno, Medium and Invisigirl ... the Incredibles. Three heads were better than one. And three superheroes could do so much more!

Alone, she suddenly felt really stuck!

Suddenly, she heard steps behind her. She made herself invisible (which was ridiculous, because her eye-catching red dress was still visible) and turned around -

- and she would have liked to shout out loud!

"What an idiot!" Vi thought angrily, becoming visible again.

Junior had nothing better to do than walk right in the middle of the road - completely visible for everybody - right into his own doom!

At that moment, the robot guards came around the corner of the building again!

Violet grabbed Junior by his belt and dragged him into the bushes.

"Hey! What -"

Violet pressed her hand to his mouth and hissed at him. "Shut up!"

She was annoyed. Not just annoyed ... she was infuriated!

Though, Violet had an idea. She never considered it, but Junior could be quite useful for her!

She grabbed him roughly by the collar and pulled him through the bushes in the direction of the fence, not caring very much that Junior struggled.  
Suddenly, however, another thought came to her mind ...

If Junior was with her, then she had to hide her secret identity. This meant that she'd have to pretend to have no super powers the whole time!

Great...

They knelt down in a hedge near the fence. The robots just disappeared behind the corner again.

"And you wanted to go alone." Wilbur whispered sarcastically. Violet elbowed him very sharply.

"Ouch! Man, that hurt! No wonder you don't have a boyfriend!"

Violet elbowed him again - even harder this time. If it wasn't for the fact that she needed him to get into the building, she would have knocked him out by now.

"Shut up, idiot!" She hissed, then she stood up and went along the fence.

"Come on! Let's search for a way to get inside." She whispered.

Wilbur tripped after her, clutching his ribs where she had elbowed him. "We should let the police know!" He whispered loudly.

"You're even more stupid then you look!" Violet hissed back. Why didn't this idiot understand?! How could they contact the police when nothing was working?

Wilbur rolled his eyes. Any other girl - heck, any other person would certainly behave better in this situation! But not Parr. She was still insufferable! Even now, in this situation, she couldn't pull herself together.

And was she trying to be in charge so much?

He passed her and examined the fence. The solid frame of poles, netting and barbed wire was about sixteen feet high. Climbing that was totally impossible.

Violet took a few steps back. Then - when Wilbur turned his back to her - she generated a force field into the fence. The wires bulged, then broke under the impact. When the field disappeared again, a round piece of the fence dropped out. The hole was big enough so a person could crawl through it.

"We can't climb over it." She heard Junior murmur.

"Oh, really! Thanks for that ground-breaking realization!" She whispered loudly. "Get a brain, Shark-head!"  
"Get a face, pig-nose!" He shot back, without turning around.

Violet's jaw dropped. At that moment, she wanted to murder him.

That was absolutely enough! Violet was fed up. That settled it - she would try to get in there alone! She would surely not spend another second with this imbecile.

And besides, she didn't have pig-nose!

... Did she?

Violet gathered her dress, crawled through the hole, and slipped into the wall of the building, where she had seen the air shaft. All without Wilbur noticing.

When Parr didn't respond to his stupid comment - against his expectations - he started to feel sorry.

He had to take several deep breaths and let his heart beat slow down, before he was able to bring himself to talk.

"Sorry," He finally said sheepishly. He honestly meant it. He didn't want to argue with her all the time. "You know, we should really pull it together. After all, our lives are at stake. Maybe we should make peace, or at least call a truce until this is over. What do you think? ... Violet?"

... but Parr didn't reply.

"Violet?" He asked once more, turning around.

She was gone.

He discovered a perfect round hole in the fence and behind it, he could see Parr tiptoeing towards the building.

Irritably, he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"This woman! This crazy little -!" He grumbled as he squeezed through the hole and followed after her.


	26. Chapter 25

What went wrong now!?

Angrily, Robac stormed along a dark corridor, followed by Alpha and Lightning. Lightning was not of his clones. He was a real super ... however, he was no longer a hero. He sold his skills to the highest bidder ... and that was Robac at the moment.

Robac was infuriated. Now, even though he had a bunch of robots, clones and a supercomputer, he STILL had glitches and mistakes?!

Apparently one of the robots hadn't brought him Invisigirl - or Violet Parr, which was her real name - but instead, two useless kids!

Alpha, who had configured the robots, had gave them the information for the search. So it had to be his fault!  
Robac was starting to want to get rid of him! And if he had a weapon, he would instantly shoot him without thinking twice.

They came to a dark, round room, with a weak yellowish light pouring down from the ceiling. Consoles and large screens were arranged around the cone of light.

The two prisoners were fixed on vertical metal platforms. Their hands and feet were bound with zero point energy bands. The girl's head was hanging down, but the boy was looking around uneasily.

What should Robac do with these two now?

Just as he decided to give Alpha the command to liquidate them, the girl lifted her head and looked up at him firmly.

Only now, he saw her face. She threw a glance at him - a recognizing glance.

He recognized her as well. It really was her!

Robac stepped towards Violet in disbelief. Then, he grabbed her chin and turned her head, so he could get a better look at her.

Violet could hardly stand his touch. She was scared, but she knew that she had to remain strong ...

... for Wilbur, who was stuck in this hopeless situation because of her!

"Very strange," Robac muttered, "It's you ... but somehow..."

Despite her fear, Violet glared at him. Then, she tried to generate a force field, only to feel a stabbing pain all of a sudden. She gasped.  
"Ah, ah, ah!" Robac waved his finger at her mockingly, "Not this time, my dear. I'm prepared. You're only wasting your energy!"

"You won't get away with this!" Violet shouted. But through the pain, her voice didn't sound as determined as she wanted it to.

"No way. You're can't be 18 years old." Robac noticed quietly. Apparently, he hadn't even listened to her.

If Violet couldn't disengage herself, and if this mannerless villian didn't listen, then she had to show him her disdain in another way.

Suddenly, and unexpectedly, she spit right into his face. Robac winced digustedly. Violet grinned triumphantly at him.

In return, she received a resounding slap to the face. She really should have expected it, coming from a villain - but it was still a shock. Violet got tears in her eyes - less because of the pain, but more because she wasn't able to defend herself and was completely helpless.

Wilbur, who was remaining relatively calm until then, suddenly erupted in anger.

This wasn't like his dream at all. In his dream, he had been the shining hero... but here, in reality, he was just as helpless as Violet. Yet he just couldn't stand watching this. As Robac hit Violet, it clicked in his head. Without thinking, he suddenly shouted at Cobra.

"You damn bastard! If you hurt that girl again, I'll beat the crap out of you!" He yelled furiously. He was aware of how pointless and stupid it sounded, but he couldn't hold it back.

Unmoved by his outburst, Robac raised an eyebrow. Wilbur didn't pay any attention to him. Instead, he glanced worriedly at Violet.

She stared back in surprise.

If she hadn't still been shocked from the slap, she probably would have smiled. It somehow flattered her that Wilbur freaked out like this because of her, especially after all the problems she'd caused.

But, at the same time, it made her want to cry her eyes out. Why did she have to cause so much trouble for him?

"Silence him!" Robac ordered Alpha, who was standing behind one of the consoles, awaiting instructions.

Suddenly, Wilbur felt a piercing pain. It spread from the knuckles on his hands and feet and coursed through his whole body like an electric current! The pain was so immense, that he wasn't even able to scream. Wilbur was just about to black out, when the pain stopped suddenly, his body still tingling from the shock.

Wilbur was stunned. When he opened his eyes, Robac came towards him

"And you," He said slowly, as if he remembered something. Then he turned around abruptly. "Analysis!" He shouted.

Alpha pushed a few buttons. Two robotic arms holding small needles appeared from out of nowhere. Before Wilbur and Violet could comprehend the situation, the needles shot forward and stung painfully into their necks. Then the needles vanished into the darkness again.

Suddenly, a robotic voice sounded through the dark hall.

"Object: Robinson, Wilbur. Age: 17. Size: 5ft, 9 in. Weight: 165 lbs. Eye Color: Brown. Object: Parr, Violet. Age: 18. Size: 5 ft, 6 ½ in. Weight: 110 lbs. Eye color: Blue. 100% match."

"That can't be true!" Robac said skeptically. Was his supercomputer malfunctioning?

The two DNA profiles rotated on the big screen. There was no doubt. These two were Invisigirl and the son of Mr. Super Smart.

Robac shook his head incredulously, while he stared at the two profiles.

"Did your father invent a shrinking machine?" He asked mockingly, then laughed and turned to Wilbur, who in turn gave Violet a tensed look.

When their eyes met, he knew that they shared the same thought: There was no way that Robac could find out about the time machine.

"Shall I -" Alpha spoke up. He could easily get the information from their minds.

"Wait!" Robac interrupted irritably. Alpha was getting on his nerves, now that he began to show more and more initiative. An own will made his clone an even more dangerous risk.

Suddenly, he stopped as he stared at the monitors.

"Wait a minute. The telomeres ... but, that's not possible." He muttered as he slowly walked to one of the screens. "Unless..."

Suddenly Robac burst out laughing - an insane, bloodcurdling laughter...

"The genius really did it! Fantastic!" He exclaimed.  
He had heard that Robinson had worked for years on the invention of a time machine, but he had no idea that he really had succeeded!

He had found this out by examining the telomeres - the chromosome's edge pieces responsible for their stability - and also for the stability of the DNA-structure. With each cell division, telomeres get shorter and cause, amongst other things, the natural aging process. Even in the future, there was still no solution as how to extend these telomeres artificially, or how to increase their lifespan. The telomeres of these two, however, WERE longer than the ones of the recorded samples! Only slightly longer, but it was enough for a few years difference.

There was only one explanation - time travel.

"I've hit the jackpot!" He whispered enthusiastically.

Why should he destroy the world if he could shape it according to his ideas with a time machine?  
It was perfect!

A new plan started to form in Robac's mind - a better plan, without any risk!

"Leave me alone with them!" He commanded harshly. Lightning left, but Alpha hesitated.

"Shove off!" Robac hissed. Alpha jerked, then he went. Now they were alone.

Robac rubbed his hands happily. "Well, my dear little kids, where is the time machine?" He asked.

Wilbur and Violet exchanged frightened glances. How had this guy found that out?!

"No idea what you're talking about." Violet responded determinedly.

"If you want to live, you should answer my question!" Robac threatened.

"You'll kill us anyway!" She exclaimed strenuously.

"Well, that's true. But you can decide whether to have it brief and painless, or long and painful." Robac laughed evilly.

Wilbur gulped.

Violet just gave him a silent glare.

The girl was acting quite professionally for her young age. Robac began to doubt that she would say anything, even under torture. And apparently, he couldn't threaten her with death...  
But the boy ... Robac remembered how angry he had gotten when he had slapped Violet.

Robac had to laugh. That was easier than stealing candy from a baby! He went to one of the control panels.

Suddenly, Violet received an strong electric shock, like Wilbur had gotten before. Upset and disturbed, Wilbur watched helplessly as Violet's body struggled violently in pain.

"Where is the time machine?" Robac asked coolly, without looking up from the control panel.

"I won't tell you!" Violet screamed in pain.

"I know that you won't tell me," Robac replied. Then he looked up from the control panel and threw a triumphant glance at Wilbur, "But he will do it!"

He continued laughing, and gave Violet another electric shock.

Wilbur could hardly contain himself! If he had been free, he would rip this guy's head off without hesitation!

"Well?" Robac inquired.

"Don't tell him anythi- argh!" Before Violet could finish the sentence, she cried out in pain with another electric shock.

Wilbur couldn't handle the fact that everything depended on him now. He bit his tongue and forced himself to be quiet.

"A tough nut to crack, I see." Robac sighed over-dramatically, "Oh well. Then, we unfortunately have to increase the intensity."

Wilbur got a knot in his throat. He couldn't simply watch Robac torment Violet! She was barely conscious already!

"You don't want your little girlfriend to die in front of your eyes, right?" Robac added.

Suddenly, bolts of electricity began to flash around Violets handcuffs and shackles. With wide eyes, she stared into space and let out a small, pitiful whimper.

"Okay, okay! Stop it! It's in the lake; we crashed!" Wilbur screamed desperately. He couldn't stand it anymore.

"It's destroyed?!" Robac asked, shocked.

"I don't know!" Wilbur was totally out of breath. He drooped, when he realized what he had just done. His throat stung, and he could feel tears start to well up in his eyes.

He glanced over to Violet. She was still completely dazed, and a little disoriented. Apparently, she didn't notice what had just happened.

Her blue eyes met Wilbur's, and he looked away in shame.

If he was going to blabber out everything, he should have done it immediately, so Violet didn't have to suffer like this.

Robac pressed another button. Alpha and Omikron, another clone with glowing yellow eyes, entered.

Robac began to give them commands. He spoke so quietly, however, that Wilbur and Violet could hardly make out what he said.

Wilbur glanced back at Violet. Her eyes were half-closed, and she hung almost lifelessly from the platform. Her black hair covered her face, but Wilbur could still see the glistening tears running down her cheeks.

The two clones started to leave, but suddenly Robac turned around again.

"Wait!" He stopped them. Then he stepped gradually towards the two prisoners. "The time machine is certainly damaged," He mumbled, and rubbed his chin. Then he looked at the two helpless teenagers with a devilish smile in his eyes. "And there is only one person who can fix it again!" He said spitefully, as he turned and went.

Wilbur knew who Robac was talking about. He had caused his father - no, the entire world - enormous problems!

Robac would change history just the way he wanted it! This thought made him feel almost queasy.

And Violet didn't feel much better ...

She couldn't stop blaming herself. If it hadn't been for her, all this would have never happened!

Alpha's voice interrupted their thoughts.

"We don't need them anymore," he said quietly, reaching out for a button. But Robac stopped him.

"Wait! They could still be useful. Lock them up!"

Robac had barely finished speaking, when the platforms on which the two prisoners were fixed began to move, so that they hung upside down. Then the handcuffs and shackles opened suddenly, and they slipped down. The floor opened up and they directly fell into a tube, swallowing them up.


	27. Chapter 26

Meanwhile, Wilbur and Violet's older selves were busy entering the building.

While the armed robot guards walked around the complex, Violet tried to get through the narrow air shaft, which was about 10 feet above the ground. Wilbur folded his hands and lifted her up, so she could climb up.

"Higher!" Violet whispered. Even though she had removed the covering grill, she still couldn't squeeze into the shaft.

Wilbur rolled his eyes. This was probably the most embarrassing situation ever! Violet's stupid dress hung in his face and the spiky heels of her shoes dug into his hands painfully.

He couldn't believe it. How could they be sure that their smaller version were even in there?!  
And even if they were right - what could the two of them do against a crowd of armed robots?

What they just did was illegal! They had entered into a secured area, completely undetected - that was considered breaking and entering!

Why did she get him into such a bad situation?!

He would be in the biggest trouble of his life! At the end of the day, he would probably end up in the police station! And only if their existence wasn't wiped out first!

And now, she was telling him to lift her higher?!

"You're too fat!" He hissed. The words had hardly left his lips when Violet kicked him violently in the ribs.

That settled it!

Suddenly, he released Parr. But instead of falling down, as he had planned, she was hanging down with the upper part of her body inside the air shaft, her legs struggling outside. Wilbur giggled gleefully when he heard her quietly cursing from inside the air shaft.

Suddenly he heard footsteps. The robots guards were coming back!

Wilbur had only one thought: "Hide!"

He gave Parr a strong push, so that she slipped completely into the air shaft. Then he hid among the numerous hedges.

Violet would have loved to wring Junior's neck!

Shortly behind the opening of the air shaft, another shaft ran steeply down. Violet slipped, and fell down several feet before crashing through a grate that didn't hold up under her weight.

She landed hard on a metal floor, in a poorly lit corridor. Pipes, wires and cables ran along the various walls.

"That stupid ..." She cursed inwardly, while she struggled to her feet, in pain once again.

Outside, Wilbur peered at the guards from his cover. The heavily armed robots stomped across, without noticing him.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but remained hidden for a while, to make sure they were gone. Then, he snuck along the wall back to the shaft.

Suddenly, without warning, a door opened directly in front of him!

Wilbur had no time to react. The door slammed right into his face! Thunderstruck, he fell backwards onto the ground.

Now it was all over! They had caught him!

While he was still imagining the cruel consequences of his actions, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Oh, it's you. Then it's not that bad." Violet said sarcastically.

Wilbur clutched his aching nose. "You're such a stupid -"

"Hey! Would you rather stay here until I come back?" She interrupted him.

Mumbling angrily, Wilbur struggled to his feet.

Without another comment, the two entered the building.

* * *

Wilma was terribly bored in the car. She wasn't used to spend so much time alone. Tired and slowly getting rather crotchety, she looked around, waiting until Wilbur and the pretty girl came back.

What was her name again...? Oh right, Violet.

Now that Wilma had seen the two interact with each other, she began to wonder if her brother really was in love with her.

They were really mean towards each other, and Wilma couldn't say with certainty that she liked the young woman.  
Suddenly, she stared out in shock. A bird floated slowly towards the Lady Crema and was about to land on the front lid.

"No! No! Fly away! Fly away!" Wilma climbed into the driver's seat and tried to distract the bird from its course by shaking her arms around wildly.

He landed on the front lid and -

Wilma closed her eyes. She didn't want to watch the bird get an electric shock

But nothing happened.

Wilma opened her eyes and saw the bird, hopping casually around.

That was strange ...

Her gaze wandered over the dashboard, where - even she knew- that a few lights were always blinking, but everything was turned off.

Surprised - she didn't know whether or not to be happy that she could finally leave the car - she opened the driver's door, which should have been locked actually, and hopped out of the car.

She took a few steps away from the Lady Crema. The bird was hopping on the roof now.  
Wilma wondered if she had accidentally pressed one of the buttons and somehow turned off the alarm system.

She picked a small stone up from the ground, and threw it against the car. Nothing happened, even the bird remained where he was, looked at her unmoved.

Perhaps the stone was too small, or she hadn't thrown it hard enough.

She took another stone - a larger one this time - and threw it with all her might against the car.

This time she hit a window. The glass shattered, and the bird flew away.

Wilma was shocked - she never wanted to damage the car! Not the Lady Crema! Wilbur would kill her if he saw the window!

Frantically, she tried to think of a fib to tell him - maybe she could say that it was the bird.

Suddenly, a gigantic robot led crashed down, crushing the Lady Crema like a bug! There was a sickening, metallic squeal when the auto body was pressed into the asphalt, and loud bangs when the beautiful white sidewall tires exploded.  
The little four year-old girl wasn't able to comprehend the situation quickly enough. It was as if her brain thought that this was completely casual. Obviously, the stone she threw had broken the car!

Paralyzed, she stared at the totally destroyed car, hardly visible under the gigantic robotic foot, her brain unable to understand how she could have accomplished that with a single small stone -  
when she was suddenly grabbed!

A metal claw snatched her little body up off the ground!

Wilma stared up in shock. It was one of those strange giant robots again!

She struggled, and cried out for her brother, but nobody heard her screams.

* * *

The building was much bigger than it seemed from the outside. It was not particularly huge, but it stretched for many floors underground. The two teenagers spent a few minutes climbing down a shaky spiral staircase, which probably served as an emergency exit, deeper and deeper down into the building. Violet seemed to be getting a strange sense of deja vu.

Wilbur was still rubbing his aching nose.

"We should've opened the door immediately, then we could've avoided that stupid stunt with the air shaft!" He whispered.

Violet rolled her eyes. After all, she had been the one who had fallen through that narrow shaft.

"We should call the police!" Wilbur added nervously. He still couldn't believe what he was doing. They just broke into a building that was guarded by armed robots! They could get shot for this!

"Yes, and how?!" Parr hissed back. Then, with a pause she added, "Just stay close to me!"

What was that supposed to mean?

"Hello? Robot guards are running around here! Your presence is not gonna change that! Oh God, they're gonna get us!" Wilbur whined.

"They must have some kind of a control center here." Parr said calmly, "We need to find it. Once we're there, we can probably turn off the robots and find out where the kids are." She talked normally, as if this was something she had done everyday. Apparently, she knew exactly what to do.

"Are you, like, a secret burglar or something? Well, at least that would explain where you get all the money for new clothes!" Wilbur said after a pause.

"Right, Junior. I'm a burglar." She replied sarcastically, "That's how I earn money. You probably wouldn't understand it, but most people need to work for their money. Not everything falls into their lap, like it does for you." Violet continued sardonically, while she examined the crossing where they had arrived. Which way should they take?

"Hey! I have a job too!" Wilbur answered back. Although it was inappropriate to be arguing in their situation, he couldn't just take that from her. But before he could continue talking, Parr interrupted him.

"Oh please! Working in an ice cream parlor to flirt with girls is hardly back-breaking job, isn't it, Junior?" She retorted.

"You always think you're the best! And stop calling me Junior! You know I hate that!"

"No problem, Juuuuunior." Violet grinned evilly.

Wilbur growled.

Suddenly, Parr stopped unexpectedly and pushed her arm into his chest.

"Ouch! Are you - "

"Shhh!"

Wilbur fell silent and listened. They stood at a crossing again. From the right side, metallic footsteps came closer to them.

Robots!

Violet needed silence now. As far as she could tell, there were two or three robot guards, probably the same types they had seen above. It wouldn't be that hard for her to simply knock them off.

But how could she manage this without Junior finding out about her superpowers?

Suddenly, she felt herself get grabbed and pushed around a corner. Everything happened too fast! Violet wasn't able to react.

"You stay here." Junior ordered, then he ran towards the direction where the steps came from.

Violet's jaw dropped, and her blue eyes widened in horror!

"WHAT?! No! Wilbur!" She tried to run after him, but her darned dress got tangled up in a valve. She stumbled painfully to the ground.

Suddenly, she heard battle sounds from behind the corner! A loud shot rang out!

Violet panicked. What if Junior got hurt? Or even killed?!

Without thinking, she dragged herself away and ran around the corner - if these stupid robot-things dared harm one of Junior's precious hairs, she wouldn't hesitate to -

Suddenly, Violet stopped, as she was rooted to the spot. She wasn't prepared for the sight in front of her.

Junior stood on a pile of robot-remains, rubbing his hands together in satisfaction. Then, he pulled out a comb and started to rearrange his slightly disheveled hair. When he saw Violet, he strolled casually towards her.

"You can close your mouth now." He said, with a slight smile.

Violet blinked. All this time, she hadn't notice that she had been staring at him with an open mouth. She was completely speechless, and still couldn't believe it.

He could've been killed! But ... he wasn't dead. He didn't even have a scratch! How the heck did Junior -?

"And you wanted go alone!" Wilbur smirked.

Violet shook her head incredulously. "We don't have time for something like that, Junior! We're in a hurry!" She lapsed into her usual grating voice and pushed him along another corridor.

"Don't I even get a 'Thanks for saving my life, Wilbur'?" He complained, but Violet ignored him. Her thoughts were racing.

Junior apparently needed to play the hero...

"... to protect you?" A silent voice asked in the back of her mind. She shook her head again.  
That was nonsense!

Oh man, if Junior brought himself into trouble again, her super hero identity could be revealed.

"You should be happy that I'm with you!" He continued on, "They would've beaten you up!" He simply had to rub it in!

"Junior! Shut up!" Violet grumbled, pushing him further along.

* * *

After a painful descent through the darkness, which seemed to last forever, the younger Wilbur and Violet landed hard on the floor of a cell.

The small room seemed to be open on three sides, but it was shielded with a strong, shimmering blue energy shield. The entire ceiling of the cell gleamed, and everything was drenched in a cold, white light.

Wilbur struggled to his feet and looked around. Behind the blueish energy shield, he could see nothing but darkness.

He turned to Violet. She looked just as disturbed as he did. But then her glance became empty. She slipped back to the only wall of the cell and buried her face in her hands, sobbing quietly.

Wilbur suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. He didn't know how to react.

Finally, he plucked up his courage and sat down beside her hesitantly.

"Hey, hey," He said gently, "Please don't cry. It's not that bad."

Wilbur mentally slapped himself. That sounded more than stupid, but he just couldn't think of something better to say. And besides, they were still alive ...

"Yes, STILL..." he thought bitterly, with a gulp.

His attention turned back to Violet. He wanted to lay his hand on her shoulder, but before he could, Violet jerked up.

"Not that bad? Not that bad?!" She exclaimed, "First, I get deep frozen for thirty years, and my family thinks I'm dead; then, I almost drown; then, I get attacked by giant monsters and a killer robot kidnaps me; and now, I'm also responsible for the end of the world... and YOU say it's not that bad?!" She cried hysterically. Then she collapsed and sobbed bitterly.

Wilbur gulped. It was probably better if he just shut up now. He sat down, feeling miserable. It was just unbearable for him to see her cry like that ...

Well, for him, it was always uncomfortable to see others crying, but right, it wasn't just uncomfortable...

Now, it scared him.

If Violet had abandoned all hope, did he still have a reason to be optimistic? Was their situation really so hopeless? Could this small cell really be the last thing they would see?  
He got all choked up, and his eyes watered when he realized that he wouldn't get any older than thirteen years...

That was not very old. He had so many plans ... and now it would all be over?  
Suddenly, pictures and thoughts flashed through his mind, when he thought about all the things he would miss: the Captain Future marathon, the birth of his sister, his prom, Tallulah's fairytale wedding (which she had been talking about since she was five), his own wedding... and all the other things that he was supposed to experience...

He felt queasy and rested his head on his knees. These thoughts hurt so much that he felt like crying himself.

"I 'm so sorry that I got you in this mess." He heard Violet's sobbing voice quietly.

"It's okay." He paused, "I'm the one who's sorry." He was shocked at how quiet and choked up his voice sounded.

"For what?" Violet asked between sobs. What should he have to feel guilty for?

"That he -" Wilbur paused. He was going to say, 'That he had tormented you for so long,' but he had a knot in his throat.

He sniffed and wiped a single tear from his cheek. He wanted to say something... anything, so she would just stop crying.

"I've been through worse things." He said finally.

"Worse than being killed?" Violet asked sarcastically, still sobbing.

"Hey, you're talking to someone whose existence has been wiped out once already." He said quietly, not very sure if he was helping. Well, yeah, it had been a disgusting feeling to stop existing all of a sudden, but it was certainly much more pleasant than getting shot or being toasted with electric shocks.

Violet calmed down a little bit, and that in turn calmed Wilbur. She looked at him questioningly, her dark, disheveled hair covering one half of her pale face as usual, and only one of her pretty blue eyes was visible.

"This isn't the first time that I've messed up the time-space continuum." He admitted, rubbing his neck uncomfortably. Nevertheless, he couldn't resist a bitter smile. "It was only four weeks ago."

Wilbur then told her everything that had happened... about Lewis - his father from the past, Bowler Hat Guy, Doris, and Tiny ...

He didn't even know why he told it at all. He only knew that it was good, because it distracted Violet and after a while, she stopped crying. Somehow this whole thing no longer seemed to be so dangerous and desperate now.

When he finished, he had to admit that the whole story sounded pretty incredible. Did she believe him anyway?

"Does it hurt?" Violet asked suddenly, wiping the last few tears away from her cheeks with the sleeve of older Wilbur's red jacket.

"What?" Wilbur asked.

"When you stop existing ...."

Wilbur had to think about that. "Um ... well, not really," He began hesitantly, "But it isn't a very nice feeling either. Imagine that all your memories, thoughts and dreams - everything that you are - simply disappear in the time stream because it never existed."

He stopped when he saw the confusion in Violet's eyes. Suddenly, Wilbur felt pretty stupid.

"It's pretty hard to explain." He mumbled, playing with his fingers nervously. Then, he suddenly remembered something. "What did you mean when you said that you were deep frozen for thirty years?" He asked.

Violet winced and shifted uncomfortably. Should she tell him?

"Vi, it's not as if he would ever have the opportunity to tell anyone about it." A cold inner voice from the back of her head reminded her.

This thought hurt so much, that she began to cry again.

"Great job, Wilbur!" Wilbur mentally scolded himself, "Now that she finally calmed down a bit, you HAD to make her cry again. You idiot!" He felt queasy again, when all the negative thoughts from before streamed into his mind again.

Violet's crying started to die down. She sighed heavily, and finally spoke. "Whether you believe it or not, I was born in 1991."

Wilbur frowned and tried to swallow the knot in his throat.

1991? That ... that was back in the 20th century! No flying cars, no transport tubes, no civilian aerospace industry. That was ancient history!

He looked at Violet, who had continued sobbing.  
"Well ... you don't look that old at all!" He joked shyly.

This comment was so unexpected and so inappropriate that Violet really had to laugh. But because she was still crying, it came out sounding like a laugh and a sob at the same time.

She couldn't believe that even now Wilbur was still able to make a joke. She stopped crying and looked over to him, a shy smile on her face and her eyes swollen from crying.

"How did you land here?" He asked, returning the smile and leaning back against the metal wall casually.

Violet took a deep breath. Then, she told her story.


	28. Chapter 27

It felt good to finally talk about it...

Violet told him everything. It wasn't important to her anymore. And, after all, she did owe this boy an explanation.

When she finished, they remained silent for a while.

"Now I finally know what this cryotis-thing is." Wilbur said suddenly.

Violet smiled bitterly. "My two little brothers grew up long ago. One of them even has a daughter who is older than me." She said, as if she could hardly believe the story herself.

"Wow. And you wanted to travel back and prevent that." Wilbur noted thoughtfully.

Violet only nodded. She got a tight knot in her throat and prepared herself to be overwhelmed with a lecture by him.

"I understand," Wilbur began hesitantly, "And ... you're really a Super?" He asked, his voice filled with a mixture of admiration and incredulity.

Violet nodded and swallowed. She had never told anyone, who wasn't also a Super, about her special abilities.

Wilbur nodded thoughtfully. Then he shrugged and stood up.

"Well then, come on! We need to get out of here!" He said, rubbing his hands.

"What? How?! I can't do that!" Violet protested.

"Sure you can! C'mon!" Wilbur offered her his hand.

Violet looked up at him. Then she dropped her gaze and sighed, completely discouraged. "This is useless." She muttered under her breath.

Wilbur took a deep breath, then began resolutely, "Well, I certainly won't sit here and wait for the end!" But Violet said nothing.

"You haven't even tried to escape yet, Violet," Wilbur's tone slowly became more accusing, "You've wasted your time wallowing in self-pity!"

Violet felt attacked. "Excuse me? Until now, everything I've done has backfired disastrously!" She answered. Her voice cracked, almost as if she was going to cry again.

"Yes, but now I'm here," Wilbur replied softly, "I'll help you." He started to walk around inside the cell, examining the blueish energy shield surrounding them.  
"Haha, very funny." Violet murmured sarcastically, burying her face in her hands. She huddled against the metallic wall of the cell.

Wilbur looked back at her with a slight smile. This time, he wouldn't be dragged down by her depression. It wasn't in his nature to simply throw in the towel.

Although Violet saw things differently, he was still hopeful. After all, she was a Super! That had to be useful somehow!

He walked towards her and crouched directly in front of her. "You really are from another time," He said with a comforting smile, "You can't just give up in a situation like this. You know, my father always says -"

"'Keep moving forward.' I know, I know." Violet interrupted, without lifting her head. "But clever sayings won't help us now!" She added desperately.

"Hey, we're friends, right?" He asked her, putting a hand on her slender shoulder and giving her a gentle smile.

But Violet didn't return his smile when she looked up. Instead, she stared out into the emptiness of the cell, as if she remembered something.

"Well ..." she began hesitantly.

When he saw her skeptical expression, Wilbur suddenly remembered how their older selves had interacted with each other, and he was doubtful ...

What had happened that they hated each other's guts? Had Wilbur done something? Or would he do something? Or maybe Violet? And would the same thing happen to their relationship?

When their eyes met, Wilbur knew that Violet was thinking the same thing.

"I don't know." She finished.

Wilbur pushed these thoughts out of his mind. "Forget those idiots." He said finally, "They obviously have no idea!" Then, he stood up and offered her his hand again. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."

Violet took a deep breath and took his hand, letting him help her up. Violet noticed that his touch was warm and comforting. Somehow, she could feel it give her a bit more strength again.

"Okay, and what do you think we should do?" she asked, still not very motivated. She didn't believe that they could escape so easily, especially after her previous attempt to generate a force field had failed.  
"That is an excellent question!" Wilbur exclaimed with a laugh. But he suddenly fell silent when he saw Violet's skeptical, and slightly annoyed, gaze.

"Well ... that's, um... kinda my catchphrase." He explained sheepishly. Violet only rose an eyebrow.

Wilbur's face felt hot all of a sudden. He turned away and coughed. "Ahem. Well, you can make force fields. So, why don't you simply run through this energy shield?"

"I don't think that'll work." Violet replied skeptically.

"Well, not with that attitude it won't." Wilbur said, crossing his arms.

Violet sighed and gave herself a push. After all, there was nothing to lose...

She took a deep breath and generated a force field. It was a strange feeling, not wearing a mask or a suit, and using her powers with someone watching.

Slowly, she stepped towards the energy shield. When her force field touched the energy shield, there was a loud crackle, as the two forms of energy met.

She went along, with Wilbur right alongside her, and she slowly had to apply more of an effort to press her force field through the energy shield. But after a strong push, she and Wilbur made it to the other side.

What they didn't know was that the energy shield of the cell worked like a laser barrier. If it was interrupted somewhere, an alarm started automatically.

The two teenagers wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but suddenly everything was drenched in blood red light, and a siren droned in a deafening volume. The force shield around the cell disappeared.

"Any more brilliant ideas?" Violet cried over the noise of the alarm. She wasn't really surprised. Wilbur, however, was quite disappointed.

"Oops." He said, gritting his teeth.

Suddenly, a door opened, causing bright light fell into the red room, and the silhouette of a person appeared. The two frightened teenagers backed up into the cell once again, until they stood completely against the metal wall.

The alarm went out, the normal lights switched on again, and the shield reappeared. But this time, the room outside the cell was also illuminated.

The room in front of the cell was narrow, just enough space for two people to run next to each other. On both sides appeared more square platforms and more cells, but all were empty and switched off.  
In front of their cell stood a very pale young woman with very light blond hair and white-blue eyes. She wore a yellow and black suit, similar to the ones that super heroes used to wear, but she wasn't masked. She glared at the two prisoners emotionlessly.

"So, you two." Robac's voice suddenly sounded from a loudspeaker and echoed through the hall. "You tried to escape from my comfy little cell. That is not okay! Delta 4-15 will now show you what happens to people who get on my nerves!"

Instinctively, Violet grabbed Wilbur's hand.

But the young woman remained where she was - she didn't move an inch. She simply stared at the two teenagers with her cold eyes. Then, suddenly, her eyes began to glow!

At that moment, Wilbur and Violet saw their breath rising in clouds of white steam. They could feel the room quickly become colder - so cold that even droplets of steam froze into ice and trickled to the ground. The entire water in the air was frozen in an instant! Ice crystals formed with incredible speed. They almost seemed to crawl along the floor and the walls of the cell.

Wilbur and Violet jerked away from the wall just in time, before their hands froze to it. Even their hair and clothing was covered with ice.

Apparently, this woman was able to manipulate the temperature in a room simply by her presence.

Just as their hands and feet started to become numb from the cold, it seemed to stop cooling.  
The eyes of the young woman became normal again, and she left without saying a single word.

When the door was closed, the light in the hall turned off automatically, leaving only the pale illumination of the cell.

"Not g-g-good." Wilbur shivered. Ice crystals had formed on his clothes and his skin.

"Be happy. Freezing is c-c-cool." Violet said. Her hair was all white from the ice.

"Sure..." Wilbur replied, not fully understanding what she meant.

"You just doze off peacefully and die, just like that... without pain ..." She continued with an empty gaze.

Violet's negative and hopeless attitude was slowly getting on Wilbur's nerves.

"We won't die!" He said forcefully, almost aggressively, as he looked at her sternly. She only just stared at the floor.  
Wilbur sighed and he surveyed the cell once again. "Let's see," He said, "We can't go through that sh-shield thing. So ... we need to find another way." He said with chattering teeth.  
He looked towards Violet again. She was still staring motionlessly at the floor. Had she even heard what he had just said?

"Violet!"

"Huh, what?" She said, startled from her thoughts, her slim body trembling from cold, "Oh yes ... find another way. Sure."

Wilbur sighed, then gave a slight smile. "You know, for a Super, you're not very helpful." He pointed out.

"If I remember correctly, it was your great idea that brought us into this mess!" Violet said, gesturing towards the deep frozen cell.

"We shouldn't argue," Wilbur said determinedly, "We should save our energy and find a way out of here." He could feel his feet becoming numb from the cold. Violet didn't felt much better. Her whole body was trembling.

It had to be under - 4E Fahrenheit!

"There is no way out of here! Don't you get it?!" Violet cried suddenly. Why should they raise false hopes, only to be disappointed again? Why couldn't he understand that all his efforts would be useless?

Unmoved, Wilbur rose an eyebrow. He simply didn't want to understand!

"Look, it's not as if we could dig a tunnel like in an old gangster movie and -" Violet fell silent all of a sudden. She and Wilbur both looked to the metal floor of the cell.

"You think you can do that?" Wilbur asked after a pause.

"Maybe. If the force field is strong enough .." Violet's voice sounded slightly more enthusiastic again. "I have to concentrate on this. Tell me if you see someone coming." She added, squatting on the ground.

Wilbur went close to the edge of the cell (making sure to keep away from the energy shield) and kept an eye on the door.

It was difficult for Violet to stretch out her numb fingers, but with a lot of will power, she managed to generate a force field into the ground. It was very exhausting to increase the intensity of the force field, enabling it to cut the metal floor. But she made it. The force field disappeared, and only a round slot in the floor was visible.

"I've got it!" Violet whispered enthusiastically.  
"Really?" Wilbur turned around, and saw Violet trying to lift the round plate with her numb fingers. He immediately crouched next to her in order to help.

"Violet! You're the best!" He exclaimed, trembling both from the cold and from excitement.

"Oh, not really." Violet murmured, but Wilbur could've sworn that he saw her blushing.

They had almost lifted the plate from the ground. Pleasant warm air started to stream into the cell already.

Suddenly, the ground quaked! The two teenagers were hurled through the cell and the plate fell into the opening again, closing off their escape route.

Then, the lights went out! The cell was filled with absolute darkness.

"Wilbur?" Violet cried out worriedly. Hopefully, he was okay! Carefully, she felt her way through the cell.

"I'm here," Wilbur answered, then started screaming, "Aaah! What's that?"

"It's just me." Violet reassured him, after she had accidentally touched his back.

"Wait a sec, the electricity's off," Wilbur began, "That means... we can get out of here!" He grabbed Violet's wrist and dragged her after him. He didn't care much about which direction they were going in. The most important thing was that they could finally leave this stupid cell.

In the same moment, the lights turned on again ...and so did the energy shield.

Wilbur's face collided with the blue shield, and he was hurled violently backwards. He fell painfully to the ground and remained there.

"Wilbur!" Violet called in fright, rushing towards him. His hands were covering his face. "Are you okay?" She asked concernedly, trying to pull his hands from his face, but Wilbur struggled.

"No! Not my face! Not my beautiful face!" He cried out over-dramatically, "I'm totally deformed!"

"Oh, of course not! Now let me see!" She said, pulling his hands away with some effort and pressing them on the floor.

Wilbur squinted his eyes and turned his head away. "No! Don't look at me! I'm ugly! I look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame! Wilbur Robinson, the boy who doesn't need a mask on Halloween!" He cried desperately.

"Chill! Everything's alright."  
"My face is okay?"

"Yes."

"I'm not deformed?" Wilbur squeaked, and squinted through one eye.

"Not more than before." Violet said reassuringly. Wilbur breathed a sigh of relief, but then he covered his face again.

"My nose! Is my nose still there? I can't feel my nose anymore!" He shrieked, staring cross-eyed at his nose.

"Yeah, your nose is still -" Violet was interrupted by a hydraulic hissing. Suddenly, the door opened again.

A masked young man, Lightning, stretched his head inside. When he saw that the two young teenagers were still in the cell, he disappeared again. Apparently, he had just checked whether the two prisoners had used the blackout to escape.

When the door closed again, the two time travelers breathed a sigh of relief. Then, they tried again to lift the round plate out of the hole, just like a manhole cover. It took a while, and though her fingers hurt from the cold, they managed it with some effort.

The cell was flooded with orange-yellow light, coming from the corridor below them.

"Violet! You're a genius!" Wilbur whispered excitedly while he took Violet's shoulders and shook her slightly.

Violet just smiled with a blush. "Shh! Let's get out of here!" She whispered.

They climbed down into the corridor, and closed the hole in the cell again. They snuck carefully along the dimly lit corridor. It was pleasant in the comparatively warm hallway. After a while, they started to warm up. But something was strange...

The two looked at each other.

"Where's this wind coming from?" Wilbur finally whispered.

"If we are underground, there shouldn't be any wind." Violet replied worriedly. Her hair was flying around her head. If it was a ventilation system, then it was really effective.

They tiptoed further along. The corridor ended in a dark room at a balustrade. The wind was getting stronger here, and the air was fresh and cool.  
But only at a second glance, they saw that it wasn't a room in front of them, but the dark night sky of Todayland!

It was already dark, and a few clouds floated through the peaceful black-blue sky.

But instead of being happy that they finally found a way out, Wilbur and Violet bent over the railing in silence.

The ground was many hundred feet below them! The building was floating silently in the sky! And darkness replaced where the bright lights of the city should be.

"Great," Wilbur moaned, "And how do we get down now?"

He looked at Violet. As far as he could tell in the dim twilight, she looked very solemn. "You can't fly by any chance, can you?" He asked skeptically.

Violet shook her head slowly. She was disappointed. They finally managed to leave the cell, and now they still were captured?

Against her expectations, Wilbur remained silent. What happened to his "keep moving forward" attitude?

"I guess it's up to us now." She said quietly. They remained silent for a while.

"You mean, we'll stop him." Wilbur noted finally. A hesitant nod was the answer. Violet couldn't expect him to risk his own life.

"Okay! What's the plan?" He asked, now fully motivated.

"Well, what do we know?" Violet asked.

"Hmm ... well, if his plan is the same from your time, then he has a crystal ... and a deadly weapon."

"And thanks to us, a time machine as well." Violet added worriedly.

Wilbur took a deep breath. "Doesn't look too good." He muttered. But then his mood changed abruptly. "I say we destroy as much as possible!" He exclaimed, slamming his fist into his hand.

Violet smiled bitterly. "We need to get to the time machine before him," She said seriously, "If we return to our time, that will solve one problem at least." Her future self would have to take care of the rest. Also, if they went back, they could avoid having this situation happen at all.

"Exactly, then the city will be just destroyed from this gigantic laser canon." Wilbur said sarcastically.

"You got a better idea?" Violet hissed. He froze and gulped at her angry gaze.  
"Um ... okay. You're the expert here! Let's do it your way."

Violet smiled in satisfaction. Then, they made their way back into the floating building.


	29. Chapter 28

Meanwhile, older Wilbur and Violet sneaked along the maze-like corridors. Violet followed the colored sensor wires on the wall which, logically, had to connect to a monitoring or command center.

So far, they hadn't met any more robots, and no alarm had been triggered, so obviously no one had noticed the three robots Junior had knocked out. Everything had gone pretty well so far ...

Nevertheless, Violet was still annoyed. Her heels were burning. She was wearing the wrong shoes for such an adventure. How could she possibly fight in these shoes? And without her super suit? She was a clear, bright-red target for any attacker

At least Junior was quite now. After he had bragged about his defeat of the robot guards, he had preferred to remain quiet for a change.

Suddenly, the ground trembled violently. Wilbur and Violet clung to the railing.

"What the heck is going on here?!" Wilbur exclaimed in panic.

"Stay calm, Junior!" But Violet's voice did not sound very reassuring...

And then, all of a sudden ... it became dark.

Violet immediately lapsed into the first phase of her phobia: freezing. She stood still, barely restraining a scream.

She was in fear of death! Her heart raced, and her body shook uncontrollably! The darkness was a deadly threat, a beast which had surrounded her from all sides, and there was no escape!

"Whoa, what's going on here?" She suddenly heard Junior's confused voice, jerking her violently out of her trance. She wasn't alone! And she wouldn't die as long as someone else was here.

In her panic, Violet stumbled despite her fear in the direction of the voice, clinging to Wilbur with both hands.

It seemed to be her only rescue. The darkness was like a dangerous surge, and Junior was the solid rock onto which she latched with all her might.

"Aah! What's up?" Wilbur cried in surprise.

"I'm-okay-I'm-okay-I'm-okay-I'm-okay-I'm-okay-I'm-okay-I'm-okay!" Violet whispered repeatedly.

"Okay, then let me go!"

"No!" She shrieked in panic when Wilbur tried to nudge her away.

"What's going on?" Wilbur asked, slowly getting nervous himself. If Parr was afraid, then he also had a reason to be frightened.. But he really couldn't hear anything ...much less see anything.

Parr only responded with a pitiful whimper. Her whole body was trembling as she clung violently onto his T-shirt.

What was so bad? Nothing had changed - except for the fact that the lights were off...

Then Wilbur understood. He held back a spiteful laugh.

Was it really true? Did Violet Parr - the tough, self-confident, caustic-tongued Violet Parr - have a fear of darkness?

Suddenly, the lights flickered, and finally came back on.

Wilbur glanced down. Parr's eyes were closed in panic, as she pressed her slender body against his. She hadn't noticed that it was bright again.

Wilbur almost felt sorry for her. He started to wrap his arms around her and calm her, but he froze in the middle of his movement.

He couldn't do that! She was still... well, Parr - the girl who annoyed him for years!

"Are you ready?" He asked sarcastically, after a short pause, before erupting into laughter.

Violet's eyes shot open. How long had the lights been back on?! She pushed Junior roughly away.

"I'm-okay-I'm-okay!" He imitated her anxious voice, and then he burst out laughing again.

"Very funny!" Violet grumbled, taking a few angry steps away. She quickly wiped a tear from her cheek. Hopefully, this idiot hadn't noticed that she had cried.

"Yes! Finally, something I can rub in your face for the rest of your life!" Wilbur grinned gleefully. Violet gritted her teeth.

"Fine! Go ahead and make fun of me! That's what you could always do best, jerk!" She hissed. She wanted to say more, but her voice was still very raspy and trembling from the shock.

"Hey, you're not entirely innocent either!" Wilbur replied snappily, referring to the many times in the past when Violet had made fun of him.

"This ... is by far the worst day of my entire life!" She said breathlessly. She hoped that they could continue their on way in silence. When this whole thing was over, she would never, ever talk to that guy again!

"Hey, I also could imagine doing something better than sneaking along this tunnel with you!" Wilbur growled.

"Why don't you just leave then, huh?" She countered.

"Because you'd be totally lost without me!" Wilbur replied exaggeratedly, standing with his arms crossed boldly in front of her.

It probably was supposed to seem heroic, and it would have surely worked with other girls, but not with Violet.

"Oh! So you don't believe I can take care of myself?" She asked, unmoved.

"Of course not!" Wilbur replied emphatically, "How could a weak, young girl like you possibly defeat these robots? Without me, you'd be hopelessly lost! You can't defend yourself! I can do karate! What about you, missy?!"

At that moment, Violet wanted to tell this imbecile everything. "I'm a super hero, you nitwit!" She thought angrily, "And if I wanted, I could throw you into the next state, you idiot!"

The words were on the tip of her tongue already, and it took a lot of willpower not to say them aloud.

"Of course! YOU'RE the greatest, Junior!" She said sarcastically, "Then why don't you carry on alone?!"

"Fine! That's what I'll do! You're just a big burden anyway!" Wilbur said, giving her a slight shove.

Violet seethed. How dare he shove her!

And "just a big burden"! Violet had never been so offended by anyone! She was Invisigirl! She had saved the city countless times already!

"Then - then I'll go alone too!" She stammered angrily.

"Bye!" Wilbur replied spitefully, turning to leave. Violet stared after him with an open mouth. This idiot seriously thought he could be all alone ...

"Fine! Let's see how far you'll get!" She shouted after him.

"I can't hear you!" He shouted back in a cheerful, sing-song voice.

Violet gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "This - that's just - so ...gosh!" She grumbled, stomping her foot.

Fine! Then she'd search for the kids on her own! She would find another way - a better one!  
She turned around and stomped away.  
For some reason, she almost started to cry. She was so angry, frustrated and just ... hurt ...

So, she was nothing more than just a big burden? Just a little annoying thing that always came across his way when he needed it the least? Well, actually he didn't need her at all...

After a few steps, her anger disappeared all of a sudden, and only a cold, ashamed feeling remained.

This was a serious matter, and they still had nothing better to do than to argue. That was stupid .... stupid and childish. How old were they? Eight?

Violet slackened her pace. She had to go back. Even if Wilbur couldn't stand her and thought she was weak and useless, she was still a super hero and it was her duty to protect him.

Finally, she stopped. After she took a deep breath to regain her composure, she turned to walk after Wilbur.

But suddenly, she heard something. It seemed to be only an ordinary noise. Maybe it was one of the hydraulic pipes. Violet froze and listened.

When she heard nothing more, she went along.

Suddenly, a dark shadow lunged at her, with a dark pistol pointed right at her! Violet was so shocked that she gave a horrified scream.

She tried to get into a defensive position, but the guy was already too close! He grabbed her arm and gave her a strong slap in the face.

It suddenly clicked in Violet's head.

She had often been slapped in the face by rivals... but then she had been masked... and it was Invisigirl's job to take whatever beating had been dished out for her.

But now, she was here as an ordinary young woman ... as Violet Parr.

And NOBODY hit Violet Parr in the face!

She grabbed the gun, pulled the guy to her, kicked him violently in the stomach, and elbowed him sharply in the chin with her free arm. All at the same time.

The guy fell to the ground unconsciously, and Violet picked up the gun and held it in her hands.

She had lost control! Her hands acted automatically and pointed the gun directly at the guard's head.

* * *

Wilbur was absolutely convinced that Parr would sheepishly come back to him within a few minutes. All the other girls he'd known would come back.

Although ...Parr was not like the others. That woman tended to do things that you expected least... or that you didn't expect at all!

Wilbur stopped and turned around.

A small girl like her could be very easily crushed by one of those robots.

With this thought, he started to run back automatically, before his mind had actually decided to do so.

He would have to play the macho man. If she didn't want to come with him, he'd drag her back! He didn't want to have her out of his sight again...

Suddenly, he heard a frightened scream! Violet!

Wilbur ran along the corridor like a lightning bolt in order to save Violet! If they did something to her, he would smash up this whole building!

He dashed around the corner, ready to lunge at the attacker!

But he wasn't prepared for what he saw next.

He stopped abruptly, stumbled and almost fell.

A guard - this time it wasn't a robot - was lying on the ground. Parr was aiming a gun at him, and she looked as if she would fire at any moment!

Her face was red from anger. She trembled and stared furiously at the guard.

"NOBODY slaps my face!" She shouted suddenly, her voice was a trembling shriek..

Wilbur was afraid he'd witness a murder. He had to prevent that!

Slowly, he positioned himself between Violet and the guard lying on the ground.

"Calm down, Violet." He whispered.

"This jerk slapped me right in the face!" She shrieked, the weapon still in her trembling hands.

"Wait, wait! You don't want to kill that guy!" Wilbur said, trying to appease her.

"Nobody hits Violet Parr in the face!" Violet growled angrily.  
"And if I beat you in the face, would you kill me too?" Wilbur asked, as he walked slowly towards her.

Violet suddenly stopped trembling. She unlocked the gun and gave him a cool glance. "Without batting an eye!" She hissed, aiming the gun precisely at his chest.

"Violet, put the gun down!" Wilbur cried urgently. He was afraid that she would really fire. He stretched his hand out to take the gun away from her.

Suddenly, he heard a click directly behind his head, and afterwards a shrill whine, sounding like the charging of a photo flash.

The guard had stood up while Violet was distracted. He apparently had a second weapon in his possession, which he now held to the back of Wilbur's head.

"Yeah, Violet ... put the gun down!" The guy mocked with a nasty laugh. Violet made an annoyed face, but still aimed the gun at Wilbur.

"Great Junior ... great job once again!" She said sarcastically.

Wilbur broke out in a cold sweat. Now he was threatened from both the front and the back with unlocked guns! He considered knocking out the guy behind him with a swift karate kick, but he knew the guy would fire before he would have the opportunity to turn around.

And why hadn't Parr put her stupid gun down? She was just making him even more nervous.

"Come on!" The guard hissed, pressing the gun painfully into Wilbur's neck. When the cold metal touched his skin, Wilbur felt almost queasy from fear ...

Violet still kept her weapon aimed on the two in front of her. "Nah." She said coolly.

"I'm going to kill your boyfriend, girl!" The guard shouted in warning.. Wilbur gritted his teeth in panic.

"Ew! He's not my boyfriend!" Violet protested, making a disgusted face. Wilbur couldn't believe it! What was this woman doing? Did she want him to get killed or what?!

"Put the gun down or I'll fire!" The guard ordered again. Wilbur hadn't the slightest doubt that he seriously meant it.

"Okay, then do it." Violet replied serenely.

"What are you doing?!" Wilbur squeaked through clenched teeth.

She ignored him. "Let me tell you something, guard-person, this weapon is strong enough to shoot through his body, through your body, through the wall behind you, the wall behind that wall, and the wall behind that wall too ... and since the life of this guy means nothing to me, you're the one who should put the gun down now." She said calmly, with a slight smirk.

Wilbur and the guard gulped simultaneously.

"You're bluffing!" The guard shouted.

"Any last words, Junior?" Violet asked casually.

"What? You - you can't be serious!" Wilbur squeaked. He felt the guard's breath getting faster - even he was getting nervous!

The guard spoke up again. "Now, I'll count to three and then I - Ooph!" Suddenly, the nameless guard cried in pain and fell to the ground. Wilbur jerked around.

He blinked when he saw that his younger self had kicked the guard in the back of the legs, causing him to fall to the ground, before giving him one last punch in the neck, and making him go unconscious again.

From behind him, Violet's younger self spoke up. "Wow! Who taught you that?" She asked in admiration.

"My mom." Younger Wilbur answered casually. But before the younger Violet could respond, her older self burst into laughter.

"Your Mom?! Awww, how cute!" She laughed mockingly. He had knocked out those robots only because his Mommy had coached him in self-defense?!

Older Wilbur was still too shocked. Only a few seconds earlier, he was so sure that he was going to die. But then he snapped out of it, and suddenly started to yell at her.

"I'd like to slap your stupid face, you feather-brained cow!"

But Violet remained completely unmoved. "It's okay, Junior. You're still in shock." Older Violet said sweetly, patting his cheek mockingly. He slapped her hand away.

"How would you like it if I aimed a gun at you and -"

"Gosh, calm down!" Violet said defensively, "I saw the two little ones coming up from behind you! I gained some time by distracting the guard." Then she began to laugh. "Did you really think I would shoot you?"

"YES!" Older Wilbur shouted, "You're a killer! You nearly scared me to death!"

"Too bad, so sad." Violet answered sarcastically.  
While the older two were arguing, younger Violet disarmed the guard. Curiously, she examined the radiation gun. Apparently, good old bullets were out of style. Could her force field really protect her at all from that kind of weapon?

"Wait!" Older Violet called out to her younger self. "I believe I should be the one handling this." She took the gun away. "And where did you came from all of a sudden?" She asked, while she tucked the gun into her purple belt along with the other one. "We were looking for you."

Before younger Wilbur was able to answer, his older self interrupted. "Wait a sec! Why do you have two guns?" He asked older Violet.

"Just because, Junior!" She sighed in annoyance.

"Hey, that's not fair! You have two and I have none!"

"If I gave you a weapon, I could consider myself dead."

"You don't think I could handle this?" He asked.

"What are you doing here anyway?!" She snapped. "Didn't you want to continue alone?! I'm just a big burden to you anyway!"

"Well, whether you believe it or not, I wanted to help you!"

"Aww, did you miss me?" Violet asked sarcastically.

"No! Why would I? You're such a -"

"Hey! You be careful what you say!" Violet warned.

"Why? Will you shoot me otherwise?" Wilbur shot back.

"Oh man!" Wilbur's younger self cried out suddenly, "You're so embarrassing!"

The two brawlers fell silent and looked at their younger versions, who were staring at them completely dumbfounded.

"You two are so pathetic." Younger Violet added ashamedly, shaking her head.

"You're behaving like babies!" Younger Wilbur continued. "I mean, c'mon! We're younger, and we aren't acting as stupidly as you guys are!"

"She started it." His older self said sheepishly.  
"No, I didn't!" Older Violet protested.

"Yes, you did!" Older Wilbur insisted.

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

"Oh my gosh! Can't you pull yourselves together for one second?!" Younger Violet exclaimed, now thoroughly annoyed. The two older ones gave each other one last irritated glance, then they turned to the two younger ones.

"Whatever! We've found you. That means we can go now!" The older Wilbur said.

"Go?" Replied his younger self confusedly. He glanced back at the younger Violet. First, they had to stop the villain... and second, they couldn't just leave, because -

"What?" Older Violet asked suspiciously.

"Well, leaving could be rather difficult." Answered her younger self.

"Why?" Older Wilbur asked.

"Because we are a few hundred feet above the ground." Violet answered with an uncomfortable grin.

"You mean 'below the ground.'" Violet corrected her younger self.

"No. I mean, we are floating at an alarming altitude above Todayland." Younger Wilbur answered.

The two older ones only stared at them for a moment. Then, both older Violet and Wilbur suddenly freaked out simultaneously.

"WHAT?! Do you at least know which direction we are flying in? How are the others going to find us now?! Now we're totally on our own! Me and a bunch of civilians! We have no chance against them!"

"That means my sister is now all alone, in the middle of nowhere, locked in a car?!" Wilbur said incredulously. "Oh God! We have to got down there somehow! Mom and Dad will kill me!"

But because they both spoke at the same time, their younger versions didn't understand a single word they said.  
Suddenly, something moved on the ground. The guard regained consciousness.

The older Violet pulled out a gun, pushed the two time travelers to the side, and leaned over the guard.

"You will lead us to the command center!" She said with a harsh, commanding tone.

"Why? We need to find a way to get down instead!" Older Wilbur exclaimed, almost hysterically. Both Violets and his younger self rolled their eyes in annoyance.

"Maybe we should make sure that we can land this thing first, don't you think, Junior?" Older Violet said irritably.

"I'm not gonna lead you anywhere!" The guard cried defiantly.

Older Violet unlocked the gun, her eyes sparkling dangerously. "You bet ... you will!"


	30. Chapter 29

Cornelius Robinson had been on his way to the ballroom, when the electricity suddenly went down. At that moment, everything had become very hectic! Flying vehicles crashed to the ground, elevators stopped, people were trapped in the transport tubes, and every tool, machine and robot in the city suddenly stopped working.

And Carl had collapsed in the middle of the ballroom, apparently "unconscious".

And as if Cornelius wasn't already stressed out already, everyone was coming to him in fear and confusion, hoping that he would have the solution. But Cornelius had absolutely no idea what was going on ...

All he knew was that the magnetic power plants were no longer working... and that was impossible! Magnetism didn't just stop like that! But somehow it was happening!

And that still didn't explain why all the machines not directly connected to the power plants, such as the robots or the flying cars, were no longer working either.

Cornelius had no explanation for it. The whole city's entire energy supply simply disappeared!

"That's ridiculous, Cornelius," He said to himself, "You know very well that energy can't disappear! Just think about the law of energy conservation! Simple physics!"

It was true. Energy couldn't disappear, but it could change by transforming into different forms.  
But how could the energy of an entire city and two magnetic power plants be transformed so fast? And what was it transformed into?

Cornelius made his way back to his office. He wanted to check the blueprints of the power plants. Maybe that could help him figure out what had happened... hopefully.

When he arrived in his office, it was already dusk. Red and purple lights flooded through the large windows. It looked beautiful in the gold and orange room, but Cornelius had no time to enjoy the sight now.

He went immediately to his desk and rummaged around in the numerous drawers. During his search, he came across a flashlight. Out of curiosity, he flicked it on ...

Nothing. Cornelius frowned and continued searching.

He was worried ... more than worried. He was alarmed. He couldn't think of a natural phenomenon that could cause this effect ...

With this thought, he got a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. If someone was intentionally causing this, they were up to no good. Whatever was going on here - Cornelius knew that he had to do something about it!  
In the last corner of the last drawer, he finally found the blueprints. Cornelius cleared the clutter off one of the tables, causing all his sketches, plans, documents and notes to fall to the floor. Then he unfolded the blueprints and stared confusedly at the white lines.

Cornelius just couldn't make any sense out of it. The magnetic power plants worked almost like a perpetual motion machine - there was no way they could just stop on their own.

"Unless something needs more energy than the power plants produce." Cornelius mumbled to himself. Was there anything that could simply 'swallow' such a huge amount of energy?

Cornelius rubbed his aching forehead. He suddenly realized that he hadn't eaten anything the whole day - he was so stressed that he completely forgot about food - and now his brain cried for carbohydrates.

"So much about energy." He thought with a cynical smile, trying to focus on the blueprints again. If something was absorbing all the energy of the city ... what could this "something" be?

Suddenly, there was a deafening crash above him! The windows exploded and thousands of small shards of glass shot through the air!

The force of the explosion threw Cornelius violently away from the window. He didn't know how it happened, but when he opened his eyes, he was laying on the other side of the desk. Totally perplexed, he struggled to his knees, adjusted his glasses, and peered carefully across the table.

The window was completely destroyed, and a huge, spherical robot was climbing the walls of the company building, and its huge, round torso barricaded the window.

Cornelius immediately crouched behind the table. He threw a hurried glance to the door ... but this thing wouldn't let him escape. He had to find another way out!

"No reason to hide, Cornelius!" An ominous, yet strangely familiar voice boomed. It was almost as if Cornelius had heard that voice many times before. "Oh please! Is that how you welcome a guest?" The voice added with a evil chuckle.

Yes. He knew that voice! Cornelius swallowed hard. He rose slowly and fixed his eyes on the robot.

"Tenner." He said with a dark glance. Why hadn't he thought of that immediately? Gigantic robots, unexpected and dramatic entrances... that was quite Tenner's style.

"Yes, that was my name - for the last few years." The voice echoed from the loudspeaker on the robot, and Cornelius started to doubt that Tenner was here in person. "But soon names will no longer be an issue. At least, your name definitely won't!"

Cornelius frowned. He had never particularly liked this guy. In the past, he had noticed that Tenner was only concerned for himself and had no consideration for others.  
"What do you want?" Cornelius demanded. "Too much of a coward to appear yourself?" He continued. It was dangerous to provoke him, but if Tenner wanted to kill him, then he would have done so already. Cornelius realized that he had to have another reason for being here. Tenner wanted something from him, and it seemed to be very urgent - otherwise he wouldn't have planned this performance.

Just then, a lower section of the robot opened up, revealing a video screen. Tenner, neatly dressed as always, sat in a comfortable red armchair, with a cigar in one hand and a small silver remote control in the other.

"Oh, what's the matter? Can't a man have a little chat with his old colleague?" Tenner took a puff from the cigar, "How is the ball going, by the way? I probably won't have time to come." He added casually.

"Well, because of you, I'm afraid the ball is going to be a disaster."

"Because of me? Why should I have something to do with that?" Tenner said, pretending to be clueless.

Cornelius frowned. He wasn't in the mood for this ridiculous game. "So, if you don't want anything from me, then please excuse me! I have a real crisis to deal with. Some wannabe has absorbed all of the city's energy!" He snatched up the blueprints and walked slowly towards the door.

"Wait just a second!" Tenner called out.

All of a sudden, another section of the robot opened up. A huge mass of greenish cold water splashed onto the floor, flooding the floor of the office with ankle-deep water. Papers and documents began to float on the surface. And the middle of the office laid a red object, about the size of a small car, covered with seaweed.

"Does this seem familiar to you?" Tenner chuckled maliciously.

Cornelius gulped, and his eyes widened in horror. The Time Machine! He was so shocked that he dropped the blueprints into the water.

"Amazing technology! You've once again outdone yourself, Robinson!" Tenner bubbled excitedly, almost jealous. "However," he continued, "you should have made it a submarine! After its little dive in the lake, it is ..." He took a deep puff of the cigar before he continued, "no longer fully functional."

So, that was the snag. Tenner really believed that Cornelius would help him fix the time machine. Cornelius had to laugh.

"What?" Tenner said, suddenly dangerously irritated.

"This is so ridiculous!" Cornelius laughed. "I would have expected something much better, even from you. Come on! I mean, do you really expect me to literally hand you the key to world domination? Think about it! Did you really think this would work?"

Tenner's gave him an ominous gaze.

"Oh please!" Cornelius continued, "Right now, I can think of dozens of better ways for you to achieve your goal. This one isn't even on the list!"

"You'll do it." Tenner said calmly, taking another puff from his cigar. Nevertheless, it was obvious that he was angry.

"Forget it! I'd rather be shot than help you carry out your evil plan."

"You'll do it." Tenner repeated coolly. Then, he pressed a button on the small remote control. Something moved in the background. Cornelius suddenly heard a anxious child's voice and he almost had a heart attack!

"Daddy?" Wilma was tied up, sitting on an uncomfortable metal stool. She looked around fearfully.

Cornelius felt as if someone had pulled the ground out from under his feet. He couldn't breathe! The most important thing in his life was his family. He would die for them! And now this maniac had his defenseless little daughter, and there was nothing he could do to help her ...

Now he was forced to do everything that Tenner demanded. And he would do anything, even if that meant putting the entire time stream in jeopardy.

Cornelius's muscles tensed, and he trembled in anger, clenching his fists.

"You damn, dirty - " He growled.

"Careful, Cornelius! Not in front of this cute little girl!" Tenner laughed maliciously, walking across the room to Wilma. Cornelius almost went crazy! If this bastard dared to touch his daughter ...!

"Well, go say hello to your Daddy," Tenner said slimily. Wilma hesitated and fidgeted uneasily.

"Hi, Daddy." She said finally.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Everything's okay. Daddy'll take care of this." Cornelius was surprised how calm his voice sounded, though his heart was nearly pounding out of his chest. He simply followed his paternal instinct to calm his child.

"Okay." Wilma replied confidently. Her courage almost brought tears to his eyes. He wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Tenner's mean laughter.

Tenner was amused that Cornelius would do anything to save his daughter, although it would be useless in the end. Nothing would be the same after the time machine was in Tenner's hands.

"I will turn the little one over to you once the time machine is fixed. An exchange, if you will. See now, I'm not a monster!" Tenner said, exaggeratedly sympathetic. "My friend Alpha will observe you. And don't try to trick me. Alpha's a medium and he's able to read minds. If you only think about fooling me, he will give me the signal, and then .... au revoir, little Wilma!"

The screen flickered briefly before turning off. The hatch in front of the screen closed again, but at the same time, a circular hatch opened with a hiss at the top of the robot. A young man in a blue and black suit emerged. That had to be Alpha...

Cornelius immediately realized a big similarity to Tenner. "This maniac has cloned himself!" Cornelius thought disgustedly.

Suddenly, a hard blow seemed to hit him! Cornelius was knocked down, and needed a few seconds to recover. As he looked up, Alpha was still standing in the same place like before. Did he just punch him with his mental powers?

"You should start working!" Cornelius suddenly heard a sharp voice, although Alpha wasn't moving his lips.

"Telepathy." Cornelius thought, almost amazed. Another punch hit him.

From now on, Cornelius realized that he would take care of his thoughts. He struggled up, clenched his fists and stared sternly at the clone.

Cornelius wouldn't give up! He never did! But Wilma's life was at stake, so he would do whatever Tenner wanted him to do. He would fix the time machine! But he would have to fix it so that it wouldn't be under Tenner's control - and he would have to do it with this nasty clone watching him.

Because without knowing it, Tenner had gave him the deciding hint. After all, Cornelius Robinson was still the greatest genius of his time - and it was not a good idea to tell him that Alpha was a medium. Cornelius knew all about the human consciousness and medially talented people, and his brilliant mind had formed a plan within a few seconds.

People thought on several levels - they could verbalize their thoughts into words or think with images or emotions. In that way, they could think several things at once, without being aware of doing so. Most mediums, however, were only capable of reading one of these levels. Cornelius had to hide his true intention that way somehow.

A spotlight on the robot turned on and drenched the time machine with a white beam of light.  
While he worked, (Tenner had supplied him with working tools) Alpha constantly stood close to him and observed him strictly.

Cornelius could feel this guy trying to gain access into his thought patterns. With all his power, he focused on saving Wilma and fixing the time machine ...

"Fix it, fix it, fix it!" He thought again and again and again. This thought was so strong that Alpha hopefully wouldn't discover his true intentions. Sweat formed on his forehead from the mental effort.

It wasn't so difficult to fix the time machine. Most of the damage was caused by the water and could be easily repaired.

It was almost as if his hands had a will of their own. They soldered countless cables and electronic contacts, making sure that the connection between the dashboard and the flux capacitor (which made time travel possible) were connected in a very special way.

Finally, Cornelius stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was wet because he had crawled around on the flooded ground, and a piece of seaweed was hanging over his shoulder. It was already dark outside.

"Fine. It's done. Now, I want my daughter!" He demanded.

Suddenly, the time machine was captured by a blue beam of light and floated back into the cargo hold of the robot. Cornelius panicked. Tenner had the time machine ... and Wilma was still his prisoner!

"Where is my daughter?!" Cornelius cried, his voice trembling.

"Oh, you'll get her when the time is right." Tenner's spiteful voice boomed from the speaker. "Right now, I want to make sure you aren't trying to fool me!" A wicked laugh followed. A laugh that made Cornelius' blood run cold.

Alpha, however, kept a straight face. He climbed back into the robot, without looking at Cornelius one last time. Shortly afterwards, the gigantic, four-legged machine stomped down the edge of the building and disappeared.

Cornelius stared after the giant robot in shock. How could he be so gullible, so naive? How could he seriously believe that a villain like Tenner would keep their word?

His knees gave in, and he collapsed into the ankle-deep water. He couldn't believe it! What had he done?!

But ...But there was still hope! After all, he had manipulated the time machine! It was fully functional, and it would be able to fly - but Tenner wouldn't be able to control what time he would land in. Hopefully, he wouldn't notice it too soon .... or Wilma would be in danger!  
Cornelius stood up and ran to the ballroom. He ran as fast as he could - for Wilma's sake! Arriving in the ballroom, he pushed through the crowds of people, looking for the chief of police, which was quite difficult in the darkened room.

Candles had been arranged everywhere, and Franny's frog orchestra played music in order to calm the people, but nevertheless, the atmosphere was restless and tense. The people were whispering, nobody dared to speak loudly. Finally, Cornelius found the police chief of Todayland.

"Chief?"

"Mr. Robinson, there you are! Do you know what's going on?" The chief asked. He was a man in his forties, who had as much muscles as fat. Even before he finished his sentence, he realized how disastrous Cornelius looked. "What the heck happened to you?" He asked, shocked.

"We need a task force in -" Cornelius looked hastily at his watch "-18 minutes and 47 seconds out front!"

"What? Why?!"

"There's no time for long explanations! Try to round your men up! They need to be in position immediately!" Cornelius cried excitedly, waving his hands around wildly. Many people turned to them.

The chief looked at him for a moment. He couldn't say it for sure in the dim twilight, but he thought he saw panic in Robinson's eyes. But one thing was clear: this man was serious.  
Immediately, the chief began to yell orders to one of his subordinates and then stormed out of the ballroom.

Franny noticed the slight commotion. Confused, she anxiously watched her husband speaking with the chief. She motioned the frog orchestra to stop playing. The room became quiet. Now, the tension was even bigger than before. The people fell silent and moved uneasily.

Franny came up to her husband from behind. When the police chief left the ballroom, she gently laid a hand Cornelius' shoulder.

"What happened?" She asked quietly, aware that all people in the ballroom were listening to what Cornelius would say next.

When she touched his back, Cornelius jerked. He didn't turn around immediately. How could he possibly explain this to his wife - the mother of his two children?

Franny knew her husband very well, and although he hesitated only for a very short, barely noticeable moment, she felt that something terrible must have happened, and she got scared. When Cornelius turned round, he wasn't able to look into her eyes. He was pale and looked terrible.  
"What is it?" She repeated, shocked about how anxious and quiet her voice sounded.

Finally, he lifted his gaze. He looked at her firmly and took a deep breath. "Wilma ..." But he couldn't continue.

Franny gasped. She grabbed his soaked suit, her eyes widened in fear.

"What about her?" She cried. Suddenly, she had forgotten about the hundreds of people around them. What had happened to her little daughter?!

"She ... she was kidnaped." It was obvious how difficult those words were for Cornelius. His eyes became wet.

"What? That can't be true!" Franny exclaimed. Why did she let her daughter go at all? That would have never happened if she had taken care of her like a good mother should.

In shock, Franny took a step back, but Cornelius pulled her into his arms. She returned the embrace, letting her husband hold her. Her body trembled as she began to hyperventilate.

"No! No! Not our baby!" She whispered over and over again, while tears ran down her cheeks. Cornelius held her tight, stroking her hair slowly.

"It's okay, honey! Everything will be okay again! You'll see..." He whispered, close to tears, but that only made Franny even more upset. She had never heard Cornelius say something that he was so unsure of.

Franny's eyes suddenly widened in horror. "Wilbur!" She whispered breathlessly.

"What about him?" Cornelius asked concernedly, while he gently pulled away from his wife to see her face. She was as pale as a sheet and stared at him with wide eyes.

"He ... he was supposed to -" Her eyes filled with tears.

"What, honey? What about him?"

"He was supposed to take care of Wilma!" Franny had barely spoken the words, when she burst into bitter tears. Cornelius embraced her again, fighting with his own tears.

What had he done? Perhaps he had saved the world, but in doing so, he had put the lives of his two children at stake!


	31. Chapter 30

Emely squinted her eyes. All that she could see of her sister, Flame, was her flowing dark blue evening dress and her long brown leather coat waving behind her, as she raced along the road with her bike.

The two rode their bicycles through Todayland. They had no other choice, all the other means of transportation were no longer working. Shortly after Flame had received Violet's message, she'd picked up Emely at their house. They had managed to get to the monorail station, but then the blackout occurred. Horrified, they had watched as the traffic had dramatically ceased all over the city.

Flame then spotted two bicycles parked near the station entrance. She inconspicuously melted the locks with her hands. It wasn't stealing, she had reasoned, if they were going to give them back eventually. It would be more like "borrowing without permission." And besides, they had to save the city! This made her actions justified.

Even though Emely was athletic, she still barely managed to keep up with her sister. That was one of the advantages of being a human torch: they almost never ran out of breath.

Emely also couldn't drive particularly fast wearing her short pink dress. It wasn't the best outfit to be riding a bike in, she realized.

But how was she supposed to know that they would be riding bikes, anyway? She remembered how Flame had suddenly burst into her room, and shooed her out of the house, without telling her what was going on. Flame was in so much of a hurry that Emely wouldn't have had time to change outfits anyway. The only thing she could do was grab her denim jacket before they rushed out the door.

On their way to the monorail station, Flame had told her about Vi's call. Other than that, she wasn't particularly informative. In fact, if it hadn't been for the power blackout, Emely probably wouldn't have thought that the matter was so dramatic at all. But the blackout was definitely dramatic

"Flame! Wait for me!" Emely cried, completely out of breath.

"You just keep your mouth shut!" Flame shouted back. "You're supposedly the 'biggest medium of all times.' Yeah, right! Why didn't you foresee this, you big medium?!"

Emely didn't respond.

"Then why don't you do something useful? Teleport us to Violet!" Flame added.

Emely rolled her eyes. Her sister knew too well that she could only teleport herself.

As the oldest of the group, Flame had taken command and also responsibility for the team, without being asked. And now that neither of them knew where Violet was, or what was happening at the moment, Emely could tell from Flame's aura that she was seriously still, that was not a reason to treat her own sister like that!

They had left the city now and drove between the green hills of Todayland. The evening was beautiful, the sun was already down, and a few purple clouds were scattered over the pink sky.

"Why can't we fly?" Emely whined. Her pink high-heels were not exactly designed for bicycling, and were making her feet hurt. Besides, if they flew now, with nobody around, they wouldn't be noticed.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Flame came to an abrupt stop. Emely almost crashed into her!

"Watch out!" She exclaimed in shock.

"What's the matter? Didn't you foresee that?" Flame hollered back. "Your abilities are just crap! What can you do aside from flying huh?! You can't even foresee something simple, like me stopping my bike! How on earth are we supposed to find Violet?!"

Emely was slowly getting quite annoyed by her sister. It wasn't her fault that Violet had disappeared! Why was she picking on her now?!

"At least I don't stink like a barbecue all the time!" Emely shot back. She really didn't want to start an argument, but her sister simply left her no choice.

Emely felt a sudden burst of heat, which seemed to increase more and more until Flame seemed to explode all of a sudden, her whole body aflame! Her clothes burnt to ashes, revealing her white and red fireproof fighting suit underneath, with matching red boots and gloves. She took her mask out from her backpack and put it on, while giving her younger sister an impatient glance.

"What happened to your pretty dress?" Emely said, a little sarcastically. The dark-blue dress didn't match Flame's fiery temperament.

"I couldn't stand that dress anyway." Flame said nonchalantly, waiting for her sister. When she only returned a confused glance, Flame - now Inferno - became angry. "Don't you want to change clothes?!" She snapped.

Emely only stared at her. "Do I look as if I would take my suit with me all the time?!" She blurted out suddenly.

Flame groaned. "I asked you 'Are you ready?' and you said 'yes'!"

"You didn't tell me that we were going to perform some super heroic deeds!" Emely defended.

"Why else would we need our suits?!" Flame cried.

"I don't know. The ball, perhaps?" Emely shouted back.

"You're just too stupid! And you want to be a Medium! Do I have to spell it out for you, or do you need me to ....?"

But before Flame was able to finish her sentence, Emely teleported away with a bright flash of light. Suddenly, she was at home, standing right in front of the closet in her room.

But of course she didn't store her super suit in it. Her parents - especially her mother - didn't know about their secret activities, and she wanted it to stay that way.

She turned the handle of her wardrobe to the right, then to the left, and then to the right again.  
Suddenly there was a hydraulic noise and the wardrobe seemed to move out of the wall right towards her. Emely took a step back. Then, the wardrobe divided into two parts and revealed a secret blue-lit chamber.

She stormed into the chamber, and took off her clothes. She slipped into her blue and white super suit with a big 'M' on the chest, and put on her mask. Now she was no longer Emely Parr, but Medium!

"The blue threat." She muttered sarcastically, closing the secret chamber again.

Now, how on earth would they find out where Violet was? Usually her visions were completely spontaneous - she couldn't control them. And sometimes, the things and events she saw in her visions happened days or even weeks later. How could she foresee precise events, including the current whereabout of their 'Aunt'?

When Emely was just a child, she had been a very talented and gifted medium. She had no problem teleporting and lifting objects with her mental powers. Even during Sybille's pregnancy, Emely had started to communicate with her mother via telepathy. When she was barely two years old, it became more and more apparent that she already was more skilled than a grown-up medium. Telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, the ability to see auras and to foresee events... even an adult, well-trained medium wasn't nearly as talented as her.

However, with these powers came drawbacks. Emely didn't develop like other, normal children. She didn't learn to speak, because it was easier for her to communicate via telepathy. However, these thought-messages were very incomprehensible since she'd never learned to articulate her thoughts. Her cognition was so different from cognition of other children her age.

The doctor's diagnosis: Emely's powers had caused a severe form of autism. She wasn't able to sense the world normally and comprehend the things she saw. So, the doctors prescribed strong drugs, which not only suppressed her abilities, but also had serious side effects.

Her saving grace was in the form of a young college student, who was also a medium and slowly taught her the concept of language, much like Anne Sullivan taught Helen Keller. She showed her how to control her abilities and how to live without them.

After she had suppressed her abilities for so many years, Emely was no longer able to use the full potential of her powers. And she simply forgot how to use them...

Her sister was probably right ... so far her abilities had been pretty useless in their fight against crime. All she could do was fly and teleport herself...

Frustrated at herself, she teleported back.

Suddenly, she was back with her sister somewhere on a deserted road. Twilight was approaching slowly, and the sun was setting.

"Where have you been for so long? " Inferno shouted immediately.

Medium rolled her eyes. But then, she suddenly found herself in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry!" Inferno whispered, laying her hands on her sister's shoulders and looking at her firmly. "It's just ... I need you to do me a favor."

Medium gulped.

"Try to focus on Violet with all your strength! We must find her! I have no idea where she is! If we go to our hideout first, we could lose valuable time. She could be in danger, and I would never forgive myself if ..." She paused, and for one moment Medium thought she saw her sister's eyes water. Inferno cleared her throat before she continued. "Don't worry if it doesn't work. We'll just go to our hideout... and if she's not there, then ... we'll just keep on searching." She ended with a bitter smile.

Medium was amazed at how quickly the aura of her sister had changed. A few moments ago, it had been flickering red and wild, but now it was dark, melancholic, and full of concern. Medium wanted to agree, but she got a knot in her throat, so she just nodded. Then she closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

She focused on the back door hidden in the dark corner of her mind. She had always hidden this door in the back of her mind, and she feared what could be behind it. This fear now seemed to push her away from that door, like a strong wind, or an invisible, powerful force. She had to overcome this force, so she started to fight against it.

Suddenly, there was a blinding light! Millions of impressions and emotions flooded her mind! It was difficult to fight back this flow of spiritual impulses. It was like being swept away by giant glistening river. She felt the feelings of the people in this city - the fear, the anxiety and the concern of each citizen! Every single thought! The burden was almost too much for her! Medium gasped. Her knees gave in, and she almost fell, but Inferno grabbed her and held her in her arms.

"Focus on Violet, honey. Where is Violet?" She heard the calm voice of her big sister in her subconscious mind. She couldn't tell whether Flame was really talking to her, or whether she was hearing her thoughts, but it helped her to focus on a certain stream in the bright, giant flow of thoughts. She seemed to float on that single stream, simply drifting along it. That was much easier than fighting against the entire flow.

Suddenly, Medium's eyes snapped open. They seemed to glow from the inside.

_"We need to find what's not there."_ She said with a monotonous, slightly echoing voice. She wasn't aware that she was speaking aloud. The words poured out of the large glistening river, through her mind, and right out of her mouth.

Then she blinked. She closed the door in her mind again, and was suddenly back on the road in the arms of her sister.

Flame stared at her, utterly bewildered.

"What...what did I say?" Medium asked hopefully.

"You really couldn't be more helpful, could you?!" Inferno roared suddenly, releasing her sister from her grasp. Startled, she fell to the ground.

"Why? What did I say?" Medium asked confusedly, struggling to her feet.

"'We need to find what's not there'! What's that supposed to mean, huh?!" Inferno continued shouting.

"I'm sorry." Medium said sheepishly. She had such a good feeling this time. What went wrong?

But her sister didn't listen to her excuse. Inferno whirled around, charged down the street, and suddenly took off from the ground as a bright fireball, racing into the sky.

Medium rolled her eyes, and followed her sister to their hideout. As usual, she had difficulty keeping up with Inferno. Unlike her sister, she had problems with the strong wind and the cold air. The wind brought tears to her eyes; she could hardly breathe and was horribly cold.

The city surrounding them was completely dark. It was unnatural ... almost eerie. Medium stared down thoughtfully.

Suddenly, she discovered something! She stopped, and could hardly believe what she saw - if it had been just a bit darker, she would have overlooked it! Could her vision be true after all? With a dive, Medium soared to the ground, while sending Inferno a clear telepathic message: "Follow me!"

Inferno landed shortly after Medium. They were in an atypical area of Todayland - filled with overgrown hedges and bushes.

"What's up?!" Inferno asked, annoyed by this wasted time and Medium's triumphant grin.  
"Well, you might not believe me, but I've found something that is not there!" Medium said with a big grin, stretching her arms out as if she was about to present something.

"Just tell me." Inferno grumbled.

Instead of responding, Medium led her sister a few steps further. Suddenly, they stood on the brink of a giant, empty pit, which extended deep down into the ground.

"So, I would say that something is missing here. Definitely!" Medium joked.

"Wow ... and where is it?" Inferno asked, a little appeased. After all, they were on the right track now. "This huge ... what-ever-it-is.... couldn't have just disappeared!"

"Hmm ... if I try to concentrate, maybe I can find out what happened!" Medium said, as she closed her eyes and pressed her hands against her temples.

Meanwhile, Inferno turned her head and examined the sky. An object that big was certainly too heavy to fly, but there was also no evidence of an explosion, such as debris or something like that.

Worried, she glanced towards the direction of Todayland. How could she protect this city, when she had no idea what kind of threat she had to deal with?

Suddenly a huge, glistening object seemed to pop up in the dark night sky, floating slowly and ominously above the city! Inferno's eyes widened in astonishment, while she stretched out her arm to her sister, who had turned her back to her.

"Uhm, M? I mean - Medium, I think, uh ... I -" She stammered.

"Oh man! It worked a few minutes ago!" Medium complained, because she simply couldn't get another vision. "Inferno!" she called for her sister, "can't you do exactly the same thing that you've just done? That touched me so much that I -"

Before Medium could finish speaking, she saw a bright fireball flying away in the direction of a bright object that was floating in the sky above the city.

"Oh!" She cried in surprise when she saw the floating object, whose brightness was a strong contrast to the absolute darkness of the city. Then she turned around and stared in bewilderment at the huge pit. Then she turned back and took off after her sister.


	32. Chapter 31

Author's note:

I'm so sorry for the big delay!

I hope you can forgive me!

Once again kudos to my beta reader NinjaRabbitLiz!

But the credit for the correcting of this chapter goes to Stargrlme from dA. Thank you! 3

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The older Violet had twisted the guard's arm behind his back, pushing it upwards, while she aimed the gun to his head. He led them to the command center. Behind her went the two time travelers and the older Wilbur was the rearguard.

"You better don't mislead us!" the older Violet threatened and strengthened the grip around the guard's arm so that he gasped in pain.

Finally they arrived at an about 25 feet long, red-lit corridor, that ended at a fireproof, sealed metal door. Access was only possible with a personal code card.

The younger Violet frowned. Why did this guy lead them here so willingly?  
Probably more guards waited inside...  
She went a bit closer to Wilbur to protect him with a force field... just in case, that they opened fire.  
He noticed it and gave her a questioning glance. She just smiled shyly and pretended as if nothing had happened. But then he also looked worried.

"Don't you think that's strange?" He whispered.

"What do you mean?" Violet asked, although she was pretty sure that she knew what Wilbur meant.

Suddenly his eyes widened horrified and rushed over to the older Violet.

"Stop!" He cried. The older Violet stopped abruptly.  
Suddenly, the guard used this chance, turned around and grabbed her arm!  
But Violet elbowed his nose and pressed his face against the wall.  
The older Wilbur ran over to them in order to help her, but before he even was close, Violet had already solved the problem.

When she had the guard under control again, she gave the younger Wilbur a confused glance. He pointed to the red-lit corridor, which the guard and Violet almost had entered.

"Laser barriers ..." he said briefly.  
The smaller Violet had to resist a big grin. You could hardly see something from the laser barriers except of a few, barely visible red light spots on the walls of the corridor. Incredible, that Wilbur had noticed this!  
"Well done, Wilbur!" said the older Violet appreciatively and smiled.

"Hey, you call HIM Wilbur, but I'm always-" began the older Wilbur annoyed.

"Junior! Open the door!" She said with a strict commanding tone, without taking her eyes and the gun from the guard. The older Wilbur was confused.

"What -"

"The door to the electrical room, you idiot!" She hissed.

A few steps behind them there was a door with a yellow "Caution High Voltage!" emblem. Wilbur turned the wheel handle of the door before it opened with a hiss. It revealed a small room, full with wires, buttons and switches.

Violet turned the guard around to pull his access card out of his front pocket with a charming smile, while she pointed the gun directly at his throat.

Suddenly, the guard beat her hand with full force away, so that the card flew in a high in the air right into the corridor with the laser barriers!  
The four teenagers held their breath! Time seemed to pass in slow motion!  
The chip card landed clacking in the middle of the grid floor of the menacing red corridor.  
But nothing happened. No alarm was triggered.  
The card had landed in the corridor without touching one of the lasers.  
Nevertheless, all of them were still frozen from shock.

"You should have beat the gun out of my hand, dumb-ass!" cried the old Violet suddenly, after she had recovered from the shock. Then she gave the guy a blow in the stomach and pushed him through the open door into the electrical room. With a kick she slammed the door shut. Everything happened so fast again, that the others barely had a chance to respond.  
Suddenly she pulled the weapon, aimed at the wheel handle of the door, and fired off! The opening mechanism melted and the guard was locked. They heard only the muffled cursing, and the knocking from the inside.

"Hey, that doesn't even go through walls..." the older Wilbur complained confused.

"Of course not! This is the FX 600-3.2 ... If I would shoot at you, it wouldn't even pierce your chest!" said Violet with a smile, aiming playfully at Wilbur.

"Stop aiming at me with that thing!!!" He shrieked. Violet just giggled.

"Aww, can't you take a joke, Junior?" She asked sarcastically. Suddenly she pressed the gun in his hand.

"You go back and keep an eye on the crossing!" she commanded. Then she turned to a small ones "And you both will-"

"And what are you doing?!" Asked the older Wilbur uncomprehendingly. But instead of responding, Violet ripped a wire off the wall, so that the whole corridor was suddenly filled with a bitter smelling smoke. The smoke made them all cough.

"What was that for? Are you crazy?! Why do you actually think you are in command anyway?!" Coughed the old Wilbur.

"I get the card!" Violet said, and pointed to the corridor. The smoke made the laser beams visible, which went in irregular intervals across the corridor.

"Clever ..." the younger Wilbur admitted.

"How do suppose you'll to do that? You'll never get through it!" cried the older Wilbur stunned.

"Let this be my concern! Instead of shouting around you should keep watch!" cried Violet, in a bitchy way at Wilbur, and shooed him away with wild arm movements. He went around a corner to the next crossing and kept a careful an eye on it.

Well, the first one would be distracted. Now she only had to make sure that Junior's younger version didn't find out about her super powers. Finally, her identity was the most valuable she had.  
She put her hands akimbo, turned to the two time travelers, and wondered, how she could get the small Robinson away from here.

Her smaller self, however, seemed to read her thoughts.

"Oh, it's all right ... he knows it" she said coolly.

These words caused the older Violet a stab of nervous pain! While the words echoed in her mind, her heart skipped a beat and she started to panic.

"He knows what? There's nothing to know...!" She laughed nervously.

"The fact that you have super powers ... and that you come from the past ..." Wilbur said nonchalantly.

Violet almost had a heart attack. Her jaw dropped while she stared at the two with big eyes completely appalled. Her secret identity was revealed! That was pretty much the most terrible thing that could happen - except of getting killed! The whole world - and even worse, her parents would find out everything! And these two children looked at her completely calmly, as if that was nothing!  
Suddenly Violet grabbed her younger self and hissed at her almost hysterical.  
"How did he find out?!!"

"I ... I told him ...?" answered her younger self uncertain.

"Why? Why have you done that?! Are you crazy?" Violet squeaked in frustration. Preferably she would have liked to start crying! How bad could the day become?

"Hey!" cried Violet and freed up with a sudden jerk from the grip of her older self. "We were sitting in a cell and thought it didn't matter anymore ...!"

Her older self put her hands on her face and shook her head, continually whimpering something.

Wilbur rolled his eyes annoyed.

"Perhaps you forgot it, but we don't have much time!" he groaned impatiently.

"Yes, exactly! Now stop howling around here and move it!" added her younger self.

Violet took the hands from the face and looked at the two.  
How could it be that they got along so well?  
She shook her head. They really had more important things to do. She threw a frightened glance along the corridor, where Junior kept watch somewhere.

Then Violet took a deep breath, handed her younger self the gun, and rolled up the sleeves of her red dress. Then she positioned right in front of the first laser barrier.  
After nothing happened for a while, the two younger teenagers shared skeptical glances.

"Uhm ... don't you want to go and get the chip card?" Vi finally asked her hesitantly. Her older self whimpered.

"I can't ...!"

"Why not?" Wilbur asked.

"Because you're watching me!" She hissed indignant at him and jerked around.

The two time travelers watched half-skeptical, half-annoyed at her. Then Violet turned uncomprehendingly to her older self.

"Listen -"

"I can't!!!" the older Violet hissed almost hysterical. Then she pointed at Wilbur. "He shall turn around!"

"What?" Asked the two teenagers at the same time.  
"He shall look away!"

Violet actually wanted to contradict her ridiculous older self, but they didn't have much time. She sighed and showed Wilbur with a nod to do what her older self said.

Wilbur groaned annoyed, turned around and folded his arms offended.  
"I'm sorry ..." Violet said with a bashful smile. The behavior of her older self was really embarrassing for her. Wilbur had to smile.

"It's okay ..." he said.  
Violet smiled back. Then she turned to her older self. "Now move it!"

Her older self jerked slightly. Then she turned around, gathered her dress and made herself invisible. Only the red dress remained visible, and apparently seemed to float in the room. Then she walked slowly through the laser beams. Although she was invisible and so the laser beams simply went through her, it was quite exhausting; because she had to be careful that the dress didn't came into contact with one of the lasers.  
Finally, she stood just above the access card. She only had to bend over to pick it up and then go back. However, she couldn't bend down so easily, since the top of her dress would touch a laser beam.

"Come on! You can do it!" she suddenly heard Wilbur's voice. Her heart made a horrified jump. She jerked around and almost became visible again.  
Small Junior had turned over and stood next to her younger self, both crossing fingers.  
Violet really would have liked to shout or to curse! But she was out of breath ... and there would be no use anyway. She sighed exasperated and bent over backwards, like in Limbo, taking care, that her dress didn't touch the laser beams. She bent to one side and tried to get the card. She almost lost balance. She heard how the two time travelers gasped frightened.  
Her legs and abdominal muscles were trembling already. With a second attempt, she managed to finally grab the card. Now she only had to return. Slowly she made her way. She was almost back!

Suddenly steps echoed through the corridor. The two younger teenagers jerked around frightened. Even the older Violet, still standing between the laser beams, was frightened and almost went through a laser with her dress.  
All of them had the same thought: they got captured!

Violet was suddenly very concerned about Junior! She had heard nothing! No fight - just nothing! Had they overwhelmed him silently! Did they perhaps -?

Her concerns, however, disappeared abruptly, and turned into sheer panic when she saw, who came along the corridor.

"Can you tell me how long this will take?" Whispered the older Wilbur, when he came around the corner. He was worried, but the real reason why he came back was, that he didn't feel particularly well in the dim corridors all alone.  
When Violet heard his voice, she became visible again reflexively - and she hadn't crossed the laser barriers yet!  
Finally, she couldn't risk that her secret identity was revealed!

But her identity would no longer be an issue if she triggered the alarm! But instead of becoming invisible again, she stumbled through the laser barriers. Before her leg touched a laser, she made a clumsy header ... and landed head-on with her belly on the hard grid floor.  
The two time travelers jerked and gritted their teeth!

"Ouch ..." Violet whimpered and turned onto her back in pain.

"Everything okay ...?" asked her younger self compassionate. Violet only showed the access card. She did it! And the alarm wasn't triggered too.

"What was that?" asked Junior amused. This stunt had looked really, extremely stupid.

"Weren't you supposed to keep watch?!" asked his younger self irritable. He was still pretty shocked. They just had been close to a disaster. His older self stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"Which side are you on?!" He hissed back.

"Now knock it off!" the younger Violet intervened, while her older self struggled gasping on her feet. Bent over, holding her stomach (the landing had been quite painful), she went to the card scanner and inserted the access card. The laser beams disappeared.

Without waiting for the others, she went to the metal door. Next to it stood another card scanner. The others followed her.  
Before she inserted the card, she took cover next to the door. Then she turned to the others and drew her gun.

"There are more guards inside..." she whispered, barely audible. Then she showed the two time travelers to take cover behind her. The older Wilbur also drew his gun and took cover on the other side of the metal door.  
His heart began to beat faster, when Violet activated the opening mechanism with the access card.

The door glided open with a hiss and revealed a stuffy room, filled with the smell of cigarette smoke.  
The two guards inside turned around confused. The door had opened, but they saw no one. In the control room there were also two robotic guards. One of them went out.  
Violets thoughts raced. Everything had to go fast! She had to avoid a longer exchange of fire; otherwise someone could get injured or even killed!  
But just like last time Junior upset her plans!  
Without hesitation - and apparently without even thinking properly about it - he shot the robot's head from its shoulders.  
Of course, the guards inside the control center reacted. Violet would have loved to beat up Junior!  
When the guards would open fire, their presence wouldn't be unnoticed any longer!  
The second robot guard came out and turned at gunpoint directly to Junior!  
Violet wanted to attack it from behind, but again Junior was faster! He grabbed the integrated weapon of the robot and with a skillful Karate move he dislocated its arm, so that it separated from the rest of the robot body. Then, he decollated the robot with its own severed arm, moving it like a baseball bat. Its torso crashed over the first robot. Now only the guards inside the control center remained, they anxiously pressed against the control panel.  
These two belonged to Violet!  
But no! Before she could even stir, Wilbur already ran inside. This guy was just too fast! Where did these damn football players get all this energy from?!  
Battle noises were heard from inside. Then it was suddenly quiet.  
Violet didn't move ... she knew that Junior once again had floored them all.

Suddenly, Junior came out and waved the others inside.

"Don't you want to come inside?" He asked casually. The two time travelers stared at him with big eyes.

"That ... that was ... unbelievable!" Violet's younger self cried suddenly.

"Awesome!" Wilbur cried.

"Oh please ... no big deal!" Junior said self-pleasing. Then the two time travelers followed him inside.

The older Violet didn't follow them immediately. She rolled her eyes and groaned annoyed.  
It was so frustrating! She was the hero here! And this stupid guy simply stole the show from her! That was not fair!  
She rearranged her hair and her dress, and then went inside too.

The room was dark, stuffy and filled with the smoke of cigarettes, which flew in fine wads through the air. On the control panel was still a full ashtray with a half-burnt cigarette next to a cigarette pack. On the floor lay the two unconscious guards with their futuristic uniforms. Junior had really done a proper job.  
The large control panel, covered with flashing buttons and switches, stretched out in a semi circle from one end of the room to another, and a window above it allowed them look down into a huge room with a giant spider-like machine.  
Above the window there were several surveillance screens attached, that showed alternately different areas of the 'building'.  
Well. Now Violet only had to find out where exactly they were and how they could stop Cobra.

"So! How do we get out of here?" Junior said and put his hands akimbo.

Violet didn't reply, but looked around. In the control room was a small cabinet, in which arms and ammunition was stored.  
"You act up, as if you know about everything, but -" began the elder Wilbur to grumble.

"Now shut up and help me!" Violet interrupted annoyed when she took one of the guards and pulled him in the direction of the cabinet. Their younger versions immediately helped her and after a short time they had locked up the two unconscious guards into cabinet. Then Violet went over to the screens.

"Well ..." Junior began again. "And what do you think we'll do now?"

Violet ignored him and sat down on one of the two floating chairs, while she stared highly concentrated on the monitoring screens. When she didn't reply, Wilbur rolled his eyes annoyed. Then he took the stinking cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

"How did you know that?" the younger Violet asked the younger Wilbur whispering.

"What?" He replied, puzzled.

"With the laser barriers ..." said Violet. Wilbur had to grin and noticed how his face became warm. He didn't want her to see him blush, so he looked at his feet.

"Well ... If you read enough comics, you somehow seem to develop a feeling for this kind of things..." he said sheepishly. Violet giggled. The whole thing was simply too incredible to be true! They almost went right into a trap! And only Wilbur's comic obsession had saved them...! That was just crazy!

"And? What now?!" began the older Wilbur irritable, who slowly became pretty impatient, when he thought about his little sister, who was all alone, locked in a car in the middle of nowhere. "We need to find a way down there!"

"Yeah ..." murmured Violet while she mustered the screens. Then she started to switch through all surveillance cameras of the building. Various rooms flickered on the screens, while she searched. Junior jerked nervously when he saw how she pushed the buttons.

"What are you doing?"

Violet muttered something incomprehensible, totally lost in thought.  
"I don't think we should touch anything here..." Wilbur said almost fearful, took her wrists and pulled her hands gently away from the control panel. The touch chased a warm shiver through Violet's whole body, but she tried to dissemble.  
Without taking the view from the screens, she suddenly took Junior's ring finger and bent it around without warning.

With a cry of pain Junior's knees gave in, unable to defend or to move.  
"This is a warning ..." she said quietly, yet menacing. "If you dare to touch me again, I'll break your arm, is that clear?" She continued with a gleeful smile. Then she let Wilbur go and continued to examine all the rooms with the monitoring cameras, while Wilbur rubbed his aching hand. He was angry and was about to shout at her!

"You are totally nuts, you stupid cow!"

But as usual, Violet ignored him, but looked at the screens.

Their younger versions only shook their heads in embarrassment.


	33. Chapter 32

"Uh-oh ..."

Violet became pale as a sheet and started to chew her painted fingernails nervously while she stared at one of the screens. When Wilbur saw her shocked expression, he forgot his aching hand and his anger immediately.

"What?" He asked hesitantly.

Parr didn't answer. She continued to stare at the screen.

"Hey, this is the chick who tried to freeze us!" said his younger self suddenly. Wilbur followed Parr's gaze. The screen showed several people, two young women and three guys, who walked with empty eyes in lockstep through the dim corridors.

Without taking her eyes off the screens, Parr suddenly grabbed the pack and the lighter and lit a cigarette. She immediately took a long puff and blew the smoke on one of the monitoring screens.

Violet didn't even realize what she'd just done. She only felt that her heartbeat slowed down and she was able to think a little more clear. The nasty, bitter taste of the smoke spread in her mouth, but she didn't care as long as it had its effect.

"You smoke?" Wilbur asked incredulously, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Violet scowled. Great! Tomorrow, the whole city would certainly know about that! Not to mention her parents! They would tear off her head!

Quite apart from that, this question was really more than unnecessary.

"No! I fly a kite...!" she said sarcastically. "Of course I'm smoking! Don't you have eyes?!"

"Smoking is harmful to health!" said her younger self precociously. She absolutely didn't like the idea that she would start smoking one day!

"Oh really...!" replied Violet annoyed. "There are many things that are harmful to health! I can tell you five! Alpha, Delta, Omicron, Sigma, and Omega!"

The others stared at her confused. She blew a thick cloud of smoke into the room.

"They are all clones of former super heroes - how you two have experienced already"

"What?" cried the older Wilbur stunned. Against these brainless tin robots, he could still fight, but super-clones?!

"You have already met Delta... the others are very strong too! Sigma has super strength, Omicron has laser gaze, Omega runs through walls and Alpha..." she paused and stared nervously into the emptiness, as if she would remember something. With the other clones she could take on, but against a medium like Alpha, she was powerless ...

"What about him?" the younger Wilbur asked.

Violet suddenly jumped up.

"Give me your gun...!" she said to the older Wilbur.

"What? Why?"

"Give it to me!" she insisted.

She tore the gun out of his hand. Then she pushed one of the floating chairs in the middle of the room. She climbed up and opened the grill of an air shaft, and put her head through it, while the others watched her confused. Then she threw both guns, her's and Wilbur's, deep into the shaft, so that none of them could reach them.

"What was that for? How are we supposed to defend us now?!" squealed Junior. Should he fight without guns against these super-clones? Then they could also give up right now!

"Alpha ... He is a medium ... If he gets access to your brain, you are under his control, and you can't do anything about it! He could make one of us to kill the others!"

Their two past versions looked at her in shock.

The younger Violet remembered how she had heard Emely's voice in her head ...

Apparently it was not very difficult to force one's way in some other's mind...

"If one of you feels dizzy or strange, let me know immediately! Then I can knock you out before someone gets seriously harmed..."

"This is nonsense!" exclaimed the older Wilbur.

He slowly began to feel really uneasy. How could he get them all out of here? Without guns? With a bunch of killer robots and super-clones close on their heels? It was impossible! Parr had to be wrong! She only wanted to act up again!

"How do you know all this at all?" He added suspiciously.

"So if we get out of here alive, THEN I'm start worrying about that smoking is unhealthy" she concluded, without responding to Junior's question and stubbed out the cigarette.

"What means 'IF we get out of here alive'?!"

So she already considered their death? Why?!

Wilbur's muscles tensed and he clenched his fists. That was all Parr's fault! Only because of her they were in this situation!

Okay, Parr had been right ... they had actually found their younger versions, but how and why did she know that they were here at all?!

And why the heck did she knew so well about everything here?!

It was almost as if she had been through all this many times already...! She seemed to have some routine!

But that was impossible! Or wasn't it?

One thing Wilbur had learned today: the word 'impossible' and 'Violet Parr' didn't fit into the same sentence!

Perhaps she was some kind of... a specialist for such things ... maybe she was working undercover for the police? Or the FBI? Or CIA?

He paused.

Violet Parr ... a special kind of undercover-agent-person...?

He remembered how helpless she had whimpered when the lights went out ...

No ... Violet Parr was nothing of that... she was just an annoying young woman who simply wanted to decide everything!

"Don't worry! We go to the rescue capsules. The way should be free ..." Violet said.

"And what about Cobra?" asked the younger Wilbur.

"I care about him later ..." whispered Violet, so that the older Wilbur couldn't hear her.

"You, all alone?" asked her younger self hesitantly.

"Is there anyone else who could help me?! No!"

They wanted to leave the control center - but suddenly everything was drenched in blood- red blinking light.

"Red alert! Red alert! The prisoners have escaped!" proclaimed a monotonous robot voice from the speakers. Apparently, the absence of the two time travelers in the cell had been noticed in the meantime.

"Junior! What the heck did you touch?" Shrieked the old Violet.

"What! Why me! It were these two?"

"What?! No!" defended the younger Wilbur.

"The prisoners have escaped. Launch security protocols! Security sector 1, drive unit ... saved. Security sector 2, prison wing and storage areas ... saved. Security sector 3, airlocks... saved. Security sector 4, absorption chamber and cooling units..." the announcement stopped. "Security sector 4...?"

Apparently security sector 4 was the area where the four teenagers were. But there were no guards who could have activated the security protocols. Wilbur looked at Parr. Finally, she knew everything! But she just stood there and gritted her teeth. She seemed to think desperately of what to do now.

That was fantastic! Now that things became serious, he was once again the one who had to take the initiative!

On the control panel was a green flashing button, above it stood in bold letters 'security protocol'.

Without hesitation Wilbur pressed the button.

"No! Junior! What are you doing?" Violet hissed through her clenched teeth.

"Security sector 4, saved. Security sector 5, weapon range... saved. Deploy search detachment in all security areas" continued the robot voice. Thereupon the alarm was deactivated.

"Damn! Really great, Junior! "

"They would have deployed even if we had done nothing!" he hissed back sheepishly.

"Let's get out of here!" cried the younger Violet hastily.

They ran along one of the corridors until they found a staircase and went down.

"And you're sure that this is the right way?" Junior asked now for the hundredth time.

Well, sure it was a little confusing because all the corridors looked really almost the same, but that was no reason to annoy Violet with useless questions.

Everything would be so much easier if she would be alone! She would have her super suit, would be invisible, and could quietly sneak past all the surveillance cameras, instead of rushing from one blind spot to another, while taking care of a bunch of civilians!

She rolled her eyes annoyed. Then she stopped abruptly and widened her eyes frightened.

"What?" Asked Junior.

"Oh my God! I've lost the way! I don't know where we are! Now we're going to die! "

"What ?!!!" Junior screamed hysterically, only to groan annoyed a moment later, when Violet held her belly from laughing.

"Now stop with this stupid nonsense! We have no time for this crap!" Wilbur's younger self cried in bewilderment. He couldn't believe that their older versions were still fighting!

After all hundreds of guards and robots and robot-guards were looking for them!

Their only advantage was that no one knew where they were at the moment. But that wouldn't stay that way if their older versions continued to behave like this!

The two older ones began some pointless discussion again...

Wilbur groaned... Then he turned to the younger Violet ...

Since they stopped, she hadn't said anything yet.

Apparently Vi hadn't noticed the argument. She stared into a dimly lit corridor to the left of them... and she looked incredibly cute when she was so very concentrated! She had swept the dark, disheveled hair from her pretty face and her beautiful blue eyes were fixed on some invisible point in the distance.

When he realized that he was staring at her with a loving smile, he shook his head and coughed.

"Uhm ... is everything okay?"

"Shh ..."

Violet grabbed his arm, just to be sure that she could protect him with a force field in time.

Something had moved at the end of the corridor, hadn't it? An object ... or was it just a shadow? Or did she only hear something?

The two older brawlers noticed nothing from that.

Wilbur felt a little uneasy.

"Vi, what is -"

"RUN!" She screamed, when suddenly a dozen of armed guards ran towards them and opened fire!

She and Wilbur only realized how they were dragged from behind and pulled into cover!

They found themselves behind a corner, the walls shook from the laser-fire!

"These are mine!" Violet's older version cried over the noise.

"No! You're crazy! You stay here!" replied the older Wilbur angrily.

"You've had your fun! Now it's my turn!" Violet cried, and prepared to run around the corner, directly into the fire of guards.

"I won't let you risk your life just to prove that you're better than me!" cried Wilbur, as he pulled her roughly back by the arm.

"I AM better than you!" She screamed and broke away.

Suddenly the fire stopped.

"Come out now with hands up!" cried the leader of the guards.

"Great! Now we're done for! We're all going to die!" Junior whined. Violet silenced him with a blow on his arm "Shut up, Junior!"

Then she turned to the time travelers "Run! Run and find the time machine! And then get you gone!"

"But -" began her younger self.

"'But' nothing! Run!" She hissed and shooed the two away. Junior wanted to follow them, but Violet pulled him back on his belt.

"YOU will stay here!" she hissed.

"You're crazy! You cannot leave them alone!" He defended and tried to free himself.

"So! Now come out! And hands up!" cried the guard.

Violet stepped out slowly from behind the corner, dragging Wilbur behind her. Then they lifted their hands.

Wilbur was preparing internally for the end.

Why? Why the hell were they in this situation at all?!

"This is all your fault!" he hissed.

"Shut up!" shouted the leader.

The guards surrounded them, their weapons pointed straight at their bodies.

That was absurd! They couldn't shoot Invisigirl!

"Apparently you have no idea who I am!" Violet said with a dangerous smile.

Wilbur was taken aback. What was that supposed to mean?!

"THIS is Violet Parr!" Wilbur exclaimed theatrically. The guards looked at each other puzzled and shrugged.

"Hm. Actually, I thought that they scream and run away, but they really don't know you..." he said sarcastically. He could feel how Parr gnashed her teeth with rage.

"Be quiet!" shouted the leader, slowly getting impatient.

"Oh man, Junior, you're so funny, really ..." Violet whispered angrily.

"I said -" began the leader.

"Oh please! Because of you we're going to die now!" Wilbur nagged.

"Now, be quite or -"

Suddenly Wilbur and Violet attacked simultaneously!

Wilbur tore the weapon of one guard and elbowed him right into his face, so that he fell unconscious to the ground. With the weapon he struck down two other guards, while Violet - without him noticing - slammed four of the guards with a force field against a wall. The others opened fire, but Violet protected herself and Wilbur with a force field. When they realized that shooting was useless, three of the guards thrust themselves on her, while the other two attacked Wilbur!

One of them grabbed Wilbur from behind and choked him with his gun. The other punched him in the stomach.

Violet knocked off her attackers by kicking the first with full force against the chest, so that he flew a few feet and crashed against a wall, and the second with a sharp kick between the legs and three targeted blows into the stomach. The third one approached from behind and wanted to shoot her, but in turning around she kicked him right into the face.

Then she helped Junior. First she knocked out the one who choked Wilbur with a blow in the neck. Wilbur fell to the floor and gasped for air, while Violet put up a brief fight with the last guard. After a few seconds he lay also unconsciously on the floor.

When Wilbur struggled coughing on his feet, he surveyed the battlefield. 12 guards were lying unconscious around in the corridor ... and he definitely hadn't done that on his own.

Violet Parr hadn't only beat up most of these guards all by herself, but also saved his life ...!

"Wow ... that - that was -" Wilbur stammered perplexed, yet full of admiration. He wanted to say more, but there was suddenly this old problem again! In her presence, he simply forgot how to speak.

"'You're just a burden around my neck' - blah blah blah!" Violet imitated Wilbur's voice "'I can do karate, what about you missy!' Stupid idiot!" she mumbled angrily and stumbled over the unconscious guards across the corridor.

Did he really sound so arrogant...?

Wilbur rubbed his neck uneasily.

Then he looked puzzled at the smoking bullet holes in the ceiling directly above him.

These guys had fired right in his direction, so then the bullet holes would actually be in the wall behind him, wouldn't they? And why had they missed him at all?

He decided to wondering about it later, and ran after Violet.

* * *

The two time travelers ran through the dimly lit corridors. Wilbur ran right behind Violet - after all, she was the expert here - until he suddenly realized that they ran back to the control center.

"What are you doing?" He whispered.

"We're going back to the control center!"

"Excuse me, but YOU just said, that we have to find the time -"

"Firstly, I didn't say that, but SHE did!" interrupted Violet. "And secondly, we'll never manage that all alone!" she added, almost in despair.

"Oh! And what is your great plan?" Wilbur moaned sarcastically. He was fed up that everyone did what he wanted, and nobody stuck to any plans.

Violet looked at him annoyed. She began to understand why the older Wilbur went on her older self's nerves. When Wilbur saw her gloomy expression, he immediately felt awful.

"Sorry..." he said sheepishly.

Violet rose a brow skeptically. Then she smiled whimsically.

"We're going to make sure that the others find us!"

* * *

Their older versions came out at the giant room with the spider-like machine. The control center was about three floors above them on the right side.

Around the spider-like machine were five circular glass plates in the floor, which permitted a look into the large room below.

From this room glowed a bright green, flickering light.

"We need to find our younger selves! Why have you sent them away at all? What if what something happens to them?" Wilbur groaned, holding his hurting stomach.

However, Parr didn't answer - as always. She ran to one of the circular glass plates and looked down into the green light. Then she suddenly grinned.

"It would be really nice if you could finally start to answer my questions, after all my life is in danger too!" he exclaimed in frustration. Apparently Parr didn't seem to care for his life at all... and that after he had already saved her life today ...!

_Wait a sec, Wilbur ... she had just saved your life ...! So she does care for you... perhaps... a little bit..._

Parr suddenly laughed gleefully. Wilbur looked at her confused.

"Don't you understand! Directly below us is the weapon! Now all we need to do is to get down there and sabotage it!" she grinned with an almost mad glint in her pretty blue eyes ...

"So what?! What about our younger selves? We need to find them!"

"They can handle it quite well on their own, believe me!" replied Violet. After all, her younger self wasn't just a helpless little girl.

"Tell me .... are you some kind of undercover agent or... are you .. just insane?" he asked hesitantly. His stomach hurt, and somehow everything made less sense from minute to minute!

"And you wonder why I don't answer to your questions ..." Violet replied sarcastically.

* * *

Their presence didn't remain unnoticed ...

Cobra watched the screen contentedly, that showed the two older teenagers trying to find a way down in the room with his weapon.

"Now, my dear, I have you exactly where I want you!" he said with an evil smile.

Then he turned to Alpha, who was standing directly behind him, waiting for instructions.

"Let her suffer. She shall suffer as I did all these years in prison!" his voice was bitter and full of revengefulness.

Alpha nodded and closed his eyes.

Cobra became almost a little sentimental. This was the last command that Alpha would ever follow.

* * *

Violet ran to the control panel that stood a little heightened beside the spider-like machine.

Somehow they had to get to the weapon from here!

Wilbur ran after her, but when he climbed half the stairs to the podium, he felt dizzy for an instant. He clung to the railing.

Was it an aftereffect from the fight before?

Suddenly darkness spread from the edges of his field of vision!

It was as if he would be dragged out of his own body. Something - or someone - else wanted to take his place!

He wanted to scream for help, to warn her, but he was no longer able to do so.

"Violet ...!" His voice was soft, almost a whisper. Violet felt this warm shiver again, because he didn't call her 'Parr' of 'stupid cow' for a change. It actually sounded really nice, when he used her right name...

"Now come on!" she said hastily.

"Vi ... I think I -" Wilbur stopped.

"What's wrong?"

Violet finally turned around.

But only to look into a pair of pitch-black, lifeless eyes, which stared at her.

"Oh no! Please, no!"

Before she could respond, she was forcible hit by a fist in her face.

The power of the blow threw her down the stairs! She landed hard on the floor.

Shocked and half-dazed, she turned around.

Her whole head ached terribly from the blow, she could hardly think straight!

What should she do now? How could she defend herself without hurting Wilbur?!

Wilbur - or rather, Alpha, who had taken possession of Wilbur's body, came down the stairs with determined steps, right towards her, the lifeless black eyes gleamed dangerously!

Violet noticed that tears started streaming down her cheeks.

Against this enemy she was powerless.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I have no beta reader anymore, so I apologize for any lack of clarity... Is anybody intrested doing the beta reading for this story and reading it, before anybody else does?


	34. Chapter 33

Meanwhile, the two time travelers had arrived in the control center.

"Look for a light switch or something like that!" Violet said and quickly began to examine the hundreds of buttons and switches on the huge control panel. Wilbur sighed, discouraged.

"Right, as if here would be something like - oh!"

Right next to his hand were a few switches under an orange cover, over it stood in big and bold letters 'exterior lighting'. Without hesitation, he flipped the cover and pressed all switches.  
They could see on some screens that showed the area outside the platform, that the exterior lighting was turned on now.

"Great! Now we surely are a clearly visible target!" he said sarcastically.

Violet smiled wryly, and shrugged. At least the flying platform could be discovered now.  
And besides that, there was no energy outside the platform anyway, so the military or whoever could be hardly be able to shoot them.

They couldn't know that just in that very moment Inferno discovered the illuminated floating platform in the dark night sky!

"Well, now we're going to look for the time machine!" Violet said with enthusiasm, and began to scan with the help of surveillance cameras through all the rooms - just like her older self had done before.

While Wilbur examined the screens too, he suddenly discovered something red out of the corner of his eye in the giant room among them. When he looked closer, he realized that it was Violet's older self, who stood with his older self at some control panel in the hall with the spider-like machine.  
Suddenly, Wilbur's blood ran cold in his veins when he had to watch how his older self dealt the older Violet a forcible blow right to her face, so that she fell down the stairs.

"What the hell's he doing?!" Wilbur cried, almost hysterical.

Violet's face turned pale when she saw what was happening!  
Then they had to watch helplessly how the older Wilbur grabbed the half-unconscious older Violet by her hair and pulled her to one of the five glass plates!

"That's Alpha!" cried the Violet suddenly. But even before she had finished the sentence, Wilbur was already running out of the control center.

"Hey! Wilbur! Wait!" Violet cried in shock! The boy couldn't just run away like this! What if robots or clones came across his way?!  
Violet tried to keep up with him, but Wilbur was too fast for her. After she had spent the last 32 years in a cryostasis capsule, she was in a pretty bad shape.

After Alpha (in Wilbur's body) had smashed Violet on one of the glass plates, where she remained lying, unable to defend herself, he went back to the control panel and began to run the spider-like machine.  
The crystal, which was in the weapon in the room below them, filled the hall with an ominous green flickering light.

Suddenly, the 'legs' of the machine began to move. Every single one detached from the walls and revealed five glass cylinders, each of them had a height of nine feet. The machine put each of these cylinders accurately on the round glass plates.  
Violet was trapped!  
But when she noticed, it was too late! The cylinder closed hermetically with a hiss.

"Wilbur ..." she whispered, lying on the floor and looking outside through the glass. The view was hazy, but she couldn't say whether this was still caused from the blow, or from the curvature of the glass. She tried to sit up by propping herself against the wall of the glass dome. Her face and head were still hurting badly...  
She was captured... Though that wasn't the actual problem.  
When Wilbur was of no advantage of Alpha anymore, he wouldn't hesitate to kill him!

This thought made her furious! Alpha would so pay for that! She took all her strength to generate a force field to destroy the glass tube, but ... nothing happened!  
Violet tried it again and again, but it had no effect!

When she had to realize that she wasn't able to save neither Wilbur nor herself, she desperately pounded with her fists against the pane, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She was afraid! She probably was never so afraid in her entire life!  
But not for herself... But because she wasn't able to help Wilbur!

"You lousy bastard! If you hurt this boy I'll kill you with my own hands!" she shouted in despair.

Thereupon Alpha smiled a dead, emotionless smile. Vi doubted that he could hear what she said, but he certainly could read her thoughts. It was terrible to see how this horrible smile contorted Wilbur's handsome face.

The rays from the lower chamber illuminated the hall more intense now.

"I'm so sorry, Wilbur ..." she whispered between the sobs.  
She felt sorry that she wasn't able to save him, that she failed as a super hero, that she had wasted all those years with useless arguments and fights, with ignoring him, that she had always been so stubborn and never had the courage to tell him -...  
Suddenly she had an oppressive feeling that took her breath away, like she had broken into a frozen lake! Her arms and legs felt numb and a dull pain spread out in her chest.  
She collapsed, unable to move. With scared, wide eyes she stared out in shock, until she suddenly heard a voice.

"So, my dear, here is the end...." she heard Cobra's voice in her mind. Alpha forwarded the message directly in Violet's brain, which made it even more unbearable for her. "I have slightly modified the crystal. It now draws not only electrical energy, but also any other forms of energy... Your super powers will be part of the past very soon. And your body functions will turn out one after another as well. A very, very painful death ...." she heard Cobra's gleeful laughter. Then the transmission ended.

Vi thought about, how useless her survival in the cryostasis capsule, her new life and her death would be if no one would stop Cobra ...  
But the thought faded from the image of what would happen to Wilbur. She only prayed imploringly that some miracle happened and Wilbur could be freed from Alpha's control...  
Then she lost consciousness ...

Alpha, meanwhile, pushed the lever for the intensity of energy absorption to the top. In a few minutes Invisigirl would become history!

Suddenly something jumped from behind on his back with a hellish scream!  
Alpha lost his balance and fell forward on the console. Unintentionally he actuated a number of switches and buttons.  
The younger Wilbur had attacked him from behind and now clung on him, with his legs around his chest, he held Alpha in a headlock!  
But Alpha's forces gave the older Wilbur's body an immense strength. He just tore Wilbur from his back and threw him easily with one hand over the console a few feet deep to the ground!

Wilbur landed hard on the ground and resent his forehead. The pain shot through his temples, and for a moment he thought he was losing consciousness. He couldn't see properly and had no sense of balance anymore!

He stared upward, everything seemed to spin!  
Suddenly he realized how his older self pulled a gun from somewhere and aimed at him!  
Before Wilbur was able to scream or throw himself aside, his older self was hit by some piece of metal on the back of his head!

He jerked around.  
Violet was standing at the foot of the stairs to the podium and looked at him angrily.  
Alpha hesitated for a moment, unmoved, but then he suddenly aimed and fired at Wilbur!  
Wilbur's eyes squinted reflexively when he heard the shot!  
He didn't know how being shot was like, but it was certainly extremely painful!  
But after a few moments, when he still felt nothing - nor pain, nor heat, nor pressure or something like that, he opened one eye carefully... The light that streamed out of the five glass panels was brighter now...And around him gleamed a bluish-purple sphere.

Violet had stretched out a hand in his direction, and protected him with a force field!  
But this also meant that she currently couldn't protect herself!  
Alpha used this opportunity!  
He threw himself suddenly over to Violet, so fast that she had no chance to respond!  
He grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up very easily with one hand; with the other one he clenched his fist and struck a blow.  
Violet wriggled around in order to escape the blow somehow, but her legs only struggled in the air without effect! She squinted her eyes and waited for the painful blow!

"No!" cried the young Wilbur horrified! He stood up and grabbed the next best object, a gate hook, and ran over to his older self!

The light was now so bright that it almost blinded!

In the same moment the old Violet awakened again.  
Much to her chagrin, her whole body hurt like hell, as if thousands of needles pierced through each cell of her body!  
When she could breathe again, she didn't hesitate a second to shout out!  
She took a deep breath and screamed as if it was the only way to banish the pain!  
At that moment, all five cylinders exploded into million pieces!  
Wilbur, Alpha and Violet were hurled several feet on the ground by the force of the explosion.

Alpha let go of Violet. When she had recovered briefly from the shock of the explosion, she immediately crawled over the floor, which was littered with glass splinters, in a safe distance. The blinding green light had vanished.  
When she turned around, she saw that Alpha was on his knees and shook his head, confused. He blinked a few times and suddenly the lifeless black disappeared from eyes. Instead, they were hazel again, and began to look around completely perplex.

Suddenly, the older Wilbur, who regained his self-control again, got a painful blow in the neck from his younger self!

"Ouch!" cried the old Wilbur.  
Young Wilbur turned around and grabbed the gate hook, which he had dropped during the explosion, and was about to batter his older self!  
Wilbur was almost frantic with anger! This - this thing wanted to kill Violet!  
He had to knock it out, and he pretty much didn't care about whether it was the body of his older self or not!

"Wait! Wait!" Violet stopped him hastily, "I think he is normal again!"

"We'd better take no risk!" Wilbur said indignantly, but Violet soothed him with a gentle touch of his forehead.  
"Oh my, you're bleeding...!" she noted in shock. The expression of her pretty blue eyes was guiltily. She felt really sorry ...

"It's just a scratch ..." Wilbur replied casually, and wiped off the blood from his forehead with the back of his hand. Then he smiled to show her that he was fine.  
She shouldn't feel guilty for anything, after all she had just saved his life...

"Normal again...? What - what happened -?" the older Wilbur stammered, still kneeling on the floor. He stopped when he saw the chaos ... and became pale.

"Oh my God ... Was- was that me...?" he stammered. He started to remember of what his body was doing all the time, and that he didn't have a chance to stop it! He suddenly felt very, very miserable, when more memories flooded his mind...

Younger Wilbur raised his nose at his older self suspiciously. Maybe he was still under the control of this Alpha-guy!  
Violet suddenly turned around and ran to her older self, who lay motionless on the ground, the floor around her also littered with glass splinters. Wilbur dropped his gate hook and ran after her, leaving his distraught older self behind, who now began to make terrible self-reproaches...

Violet hesitated when she came closer to her older self, who lay unconscious in the midst of thousands bits of broken glass. But Wilbur immediately knelt beside her and touched her shoulder. Fortunately, she opened her eyes.  
The two younger teenagers breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" Wilbur asked breathlessly.

The older Violet sat up, grimacing in pain, but didn't answer. Her younger self kneeled in front of her.

"Are you badly injured?" She asked anxiously. If so, then she might be the only remaining super here, and she had to admit that this thought made her feel a quite uneasy...

"I taste my spleen ..." gasped her older version in pain, but still with a smile. Then she suddenly widened her eyes in shock.

"Where's Wilbur?!"

"I'm here..." Wilbur replied.

"Not you, the other one!"

The two teens turned around. The older Wilbur had caved in on the stairs of the pedestal. When he heard his name he looked up briefly, only to stare even more depressed on his feet again afterwards. He looked miserable and was terribly pale.  
He made terrible self-reproaches...  
Why hadn't he been able to prevent that? He almost killed Violet! The woman, for whom he had... well... certain feelings in secret! And the two time travelers also almost died because of him!

To see him sitting there, so very depressed, Violet felt really sorry for him. She could not resist a little smile when her heart filled with relief. She remembered how awful she had felt only a few minutes ago, when Alpha had taken possession of his body ...

Suddenly, a bright fireball shot through a ventilation shaft, landed on the ground and turned suddenly into a human form. The eyes glowed like fire as she looked around in the room.

The two time travelers and the older Wilbur startled when they saw the human torch.

"Wow ...!" exclaimed the smaller Violet. She knew immediately that it was Flame.

Inferno jerked around.

"Uah! CLONES!" She cried suddenly, when she saw the two time travelers! Her fists seemed to explode, then she pounced on to the two teens.  
For her the situation seemed like Violet, lying on the floor (obviously hurt), surrounded by clones, that surely were responsible for the chaos here!

"We are no clones!" Wilbur and Violet squealed. But instead of attacking them, Inferno tore the older Violet onto her feet (who screamed in pain) and pulled her away from the supposed clones.

"Clones always say that they aren't clones!" she cried annoyed. Then she prepared to attack!

"They aren't clones!" cried the older Wilbur hastily! But Inferno stuck to her guns.

"Inferno!" gasped the older Violet, but she couldn't continue because of the pain. The two time travelers drew back, scared.

Suddenly there was a bright flash that seemed to concentrate into one point and suddenly Medium stood all excited in front of her older sister!

"Inferno, I've defeated Alpha! I've defeated Alpha! Can you imagine? I can't believe it! All alone! I don't know how, but I did it!" she exulted.

So that's why the older Wilbur suddenly became normal again, thought Violet surprised ... Alpha's control had been dissolved, when Medium had beat him.

* * *

Alpha suddenly felt a sharp, almost unbearable pain. It was no pain in the usual sense, because physically everything was all right. The pain he felt was much deeper, burning right through his mind to the deepest core of his soul (if he had something like that) and threatened to completely extinguish him.  
Medium had improved ... actually she wasn't able to interrupt his psi-control so easily.  
But this time, Alpha had had no other choice than to leave Wilbur's body. He had tried to knock Medium out with psi-attacks, but something was different.  
She willingly let him enter into her mind a little, only to triturate him with the full force of her own self afterwards! A bright light had suddenly seemed to burn Alphas spirit!  
But when he opened his eyes, the pain suddenly disappeared. Apparently Medium didn't intend to kill him ...  
Alpha found he was lying on the floor. Had he lost control so much?  
His master would be very angry with him certainly, because he had been unable to follow the order. He would surely punish him ...

But when he turned his gaze upward, his master only smiled at him.  
A smile ...? But he had failed ...  
But that wasn't even the strangest! Suddenly his master offered his hand to help him up! A gesture, that was so unusual that Alpha was too surprised to be suspicious. Alpha grabbed his hand.  
As he stood in front of his master, nothing was left from his usual soulless sovereignty.  
He stammered something to explain his behavior, but Cobra stopped him with a reassuring nod.

Then he told him to follow. After a short time they reached a door. Cobra opened it and Alpha entered. He wanted to turn around and ask his master, what the plan was, but suddenly he heard only the hydraulic locking of a fireproof door!  
Rooted, Alpha stopped and stared at the closed door ...  
He was alone and there was no other way out ...  
If that was part of a new plan, Alpha didn't understand it...  
Suddenly the floodgates opened in the ceiling of the room and masses of water flowed into it!  
Within a short time, it was at knee height!  
Alpha felt how he lost his usual self-assurance!  
His heart was beating faster and his breathing went short and hard.  
At that moment, Alpha felt his very first conscious emotion... Fear.  
This set off a mental chain reaction, suddenly everything was clear to him!  
He was just a tool! His master had only used him! And now, that he no longer needed him, he simply drowned him!

Alpha threw himself against the door and stoke against it with all might, even though he knew it was useless ...  
Other unknown emotions poured into his mind, like the water into the sealed room ...  
Despair, frustration, anger and hatred ...

* * *

Although Medium turned her back to the two time travelers, Violet could tell it was her niece immediately because of the wild, curly blond hair. In addition, she was genuinely surprised that her super suit was blue... and not pink.

"Oh, hi Violet ..." Medium said casually when she saw older Violet. She wanted to continue to celebrate her triumphant victory over Alpha, but the gaze of her sister made her fall silent.  
Inferno looked at her sister in annoyance.

"I'm busy ...!" she said, while her hands transformed back into fireballs and her eyes glowed dangerously in the direction of the time travelers. Medium turned around. She was startled when she saw the two teenagers.

"Ah! Clones!" she cried in shock, stumbled back and fell back against Inferno.

"We are not clones!" Wilbur cried, slowly getting annoyed.

"Now go away and let me do my job!" said Inferno and pushed her sister aside.

"Wait!" cried Medium and teleported herself between Inferno and the two teenagers, so that Inferno had to stop abruptly.

"Medium!" She snapped angrily.

"They really aren't clones!" Medium began, while she put her hands on the shoulders of the two time travelers and looked at them intensively. This day was so weird! She had discovered a whole new way to use her powers. Only by looking at these two rather confused kids she could tell, that there was no way that they could be copies.

"Very, very strange ..." she murmured.

"They come from the past ..." cried the older Wilbur. He approached cautiously, because he still didn't know exactly what the intentions of these two strange figures were. Did they belong to these evil super-clones, Parr had told about, or not ...?

"From the past ...?" Inferno repeated incredulously.

"Time machine ..." gasped the old Violet, holding her stomach..

"Awesome!" Medium cried suddenly smitten. "Then they really are you two! Only younger!" Suddenly, she pinched the two younger teenagers in the cheeks!

"Oh my God! Aren't you cuuuute! Violet, I've completely forgotten how cute you were! Awwww! And our little Robinson is soooo cute too!" she squeaked.  
The two time travelers stepped back and rubbed their aching cheeks.

"Whoa, wait a minute ...!" Inferno interrupted, "What's going on here?" She turned to the older Violet, but her younger self answered instead.

"Okay, uhm.... There is this guy ..."

"Cobra" Wilbur explained.

"He has a crystal that sucks all energy and a weapon that could destroy all the cities of this country..." Violet continued.

"And a time machine ..." Wilbur added.

Inferno inspected the two seriously. Then she looked at Medium.

"They tell the truth ..." Medium noted soberly.

"Fantastic .... Then we should start to fix this..." Inferno said finally, slightly annoyed. That sounded like a lot of work to fix.

"What is with - uhm..." the older Violet stopped abruptly. Finally, it was somehow embarrassing if she now suddenly showed compassion - or any other feelings other than dislike - for Junior... But Medium knew what she meant, without saying it.

"No! He won't have permanent damage from Alpha's little mind-acrobatics..." said Medium and patted older Wilbur's shoulder reassuringly.

"Permanent damage ...?!" Wilbur repeated, insecure.

"Oh, nothing ... Only that your brain takes damage if you are too long under the psi-control of a medium ... So don't wonder if you get panic attacks in the near future from crowds, closed rooms, elevators, dogs, cheese fondue -"

"Or darkness...?" Wilbur added with realization.

"Uhm .... For example ...." Medium replied, while she sent Violet a panic message via telepathy.

"Oh my! What if he finds out about you?! About us!?"

"Oh, doesn't matter! Tomorrow the whole city knows about it anyway!" cried Violet annoyed and made a dismissive gesture in Junior's direction.  
Wilbur hesitated and then made a face, offended.  
It wasn't fair that she consistently put his reliability into question.  
Why was she thinking so badly of him?  
And there they were back to the old topic... She just never gave him a chance!  
Besides, he wasn't really sure at all, what they were talking about...  
But Parr... she just used every opportunity to give him a rubdown...!  
"Okay, here's the plan!" Inferno began resolutely, "You four go to the rescue capsules. Me and Medium are sabotaging this weapon and ensuring that Cobra doesn't leave our time!"

"Don't you need help?" asked the young Violet. She wanted to help and do something useful at least once today, after she was the one who had caused the whole mess at all.

The two super heroes cocked their heads and grinned.

"Awww!" squealed Inferno.

"I told you, she's cute!" chirped Medium.

"You can help us when you grow older!" Inferno laughed and patted Violet's head.

"Hey! I'm no dog!" she complained, offended.

The two laughed, while they turned around, ready to fight.  
But Medium suddenly stopped. Her eyes began to glow!

_"Get out of the water ..."_ she said suddenly, with this slightly echoing, monotonous voice. Everyone stared at her confused.

"What ...?" asked the older Violet, because she neither knew this type of vision that Emely was having nor understood the content of what she said.

_"Out of the water ..."_ Medium repeated.

"What water?" asked the younger Wilbur anxiously. The atmosphere became baleful.

"What's wrong with her...?" asked the young Violet concerned. Inferno walked slowly towards her sister.

"Medium?"

Medium awoke from her trance and shook her head. Then she looked dumbfounded at the others, who were still staring at her insecurely.

"What is it?" She asked, unaware of what had just happened.  
Suddenly a giant cooling water tank exploded above them! Omicron had destroyed it with his laser gaze! Within a few seconds the water was ankle deep in the whole hall! And several floors above them stood five dark figures, who looked menacingly down at them.

For a brief moment that seemed to last forever, none of them moved ... neither our heroes, nor the clones.


	35. Chapter 34

Beta reading by animeloveramy! *heart*

* * *

Inferno was the first who awakened from the trance.

"Run, run, run! Out of the water!" she screamed. Then she ran in the opposite direction, jumped up, an then shot to Omicron and the other clones as a burning ball of fire.  
The clones scattered and spread out in the huge hall!

Wilbur grabbed the two time travelers, and quickly hustled them up a nearby staircase.

Everything happened so fast that he didn't have enough time to plan his next steps!  
What if robots were lurking on the upper level? Or one of these clones?  
Desperately he grabbed the two younger versions as if that could protect them in any way.  
Suddenly a horrible thought came to his mind!  
Where the heck was Parr?  
He jerked around. Parr was still standing in the hall in the ankle deep water and didn't moved an inch!

"Oh, this woman!" Wilbur growled and gnashed his teeth.

Violet had stopped reflexively. As a super hero, she was used fighting side by side with Inferno and Medium.  
Medium fought several floors higher with Sigma. She had super strength and was invulnerable, but no matter how much she tried, she simply couldn't strike Medium. She teleported herself away before Sigma could even get close to her.  
Inferno focused on Omicron, as a plasmanoid without a real body his laser gaze couldn't harm her.  
But where were the other clones?  
And if Medium had just defeated Alpha, who had been the fifth person?

"Invisigirl! So we meet us again!" a familiar voice suddenly laughed behind her. Above her floated Lightning. He flew around her, and then landed a few feet in front of her in the water.

"Toaster Boy!" Violet whispered. For some reason she wasn't surprised. This type of job fitted to Lightning. He had worked for the military for a while, then for a car company, and then for a weapons manufacturer. Just where he could earn the most cash. Of course, he had recognized her. They had once or twice...or three times... something like a date ... before Violet had noticed that Mr. Bobby 'I-don't-have-much-interest-in-fidelity' Richards was an even bigger idiot than junior.

"I didn't think that Cobra would hire someone who is more stupid than his clones!" she continued untouched and got into defensive position.

"Nothing better to say? After all this will be your last words!" Lightning replied with a malicious smile. Bolts of electric power began to flicker around his fists.  
Slowly it began to dawn on Violet, that her force field couldn't protect her from an electric shock when she was standing in water ankle-deep, but before she could continue to worry about it, a pale young woman with white glowing eyes suddenly appeared at the other end of the hall.  
"Damn!" Violet cried exaggeratedly loud and pointed to Delta. The distraction worked and Lightning turned around reflexively! This idiot actually fell for her trick?! Violet used the opportunity to run towards the stairs that Wilbur and her two younger versions had run up!

Lightning whirled around and shot bolts into the water!

At the same moment Delta froze all the water that covered the floor of the hall!

Violet had almost reached the stairs! She wanted to begin to think about what she should do next, when she was abruptly stopped and suddenly fell painfully on the stairs!  
She felt a heavy pressure on her right foot and a growing, stabbing pain!  
She pulled herself up on the railing, looked back and saw that her foot was frozen to the ankle in the ice!  
The ice had indeed protected her against electric shock, but she was now unable to move!  
She tried desperately to pull her foot out, but it was stuck!

"Oh, you're clones are so stupid!" Lightning cried in annoyance because his attempt to give Violet an electric shock had failed.

Violet tried to blast the ice with her force field, and to free herself ...  
But nothing happened!  
And becoming invisible didn't work either!  
She tried again, but nothing happened! That tingly feeling she felt as soon as she generated her force field or was invisible had completely vanished! It was gone!  
Her heart began to beat faster and it seemed to her as if she couldn't breathe any longer!  
Why the heck didn't her force field work?  
Desperately, she tried to pull her foot out of the ice, but it was hopeless!  
Suddenly she remembered Cobra's words and they echoed through her mind...

_"The crystal now draws not only electrical energy, but also any other forms of energy... Your super powers will be part of the past very soon..."_

How could she forget everything but this?!

The first time in her super hero career Violet really got seriously paniced (without being in a dark room)!  
She had no force field to protect herself and she couldn't even become invisible!  
That which made her special - her super powers - where gone!  
Totally horrified, too shocked to think clearly or to scream, she crouched on the stairs, with one of her feet stuck in the ice!  
All the color vanished from her face and she was completely livid when Lightning approached slowly.  
All she could do was stare at him in silence! What should she do?

"Well, when I see your pretty face, I almost believe that Cobra's machine worked..." he grinned at Violet, "You've lost your super powers, right?"

A single touch of this toaster boy could kill her!  
And she couldn't run away because her stupid foot was frozen!

Lightning had not been stuck in the ice, because in the moment when the water had been frozen, he simply lifted off the ground. Flying ... an ability that Violet had often envied him for.  
Then he came closer with a sinister smile!

Violet's life began to pass before her eyes! And with that came the certainty that this was probably the definitive end of Invisigirl, and therefore also the end of Violet Parr!  
What a stupid death was that? Squatting here on this stupid stairs! Only because of a frozen foot!  
Around Lightning's fists the bolts flashed again! He was only a few steps away!  
Violet clung to the rail, closed her eyes and prepared herself for the end.

Too bad, because she missed Wilbur's glorious rescue mission!  
He jumped from the upper balustrade right on Lightning! Lightning hit the floor! Wilbur pushed him down with his knee on the chest and knocked him out before Lightning had even the slightest opportunity to do something!  
It wasn't particularly elegant, but it did its purpose!

Confused and scared Violet opened her eyes ... and she could not believe what she saw ... Was she perhaps already dead? Or unconscious?  
Junior didn't really incapacitated Lightning all alone and saved her life! That had to be just a crazy dream!

"Are you stupid?" Wilbur cried breathlessly at her. He risked not only his own life but also the lives of the two time travelers, only because this girl was too stupid to run away!  
With these words, it became clear to Violet that it couldn't be a dream ...  
In their dreams he had said something like 'Is everything okay with you? I was so worried about you!'

"Why didn't you follow us?!" He cried instead, irritated, as he grabbed Violet by her arm to pull her up the stairs.

"Ouch! Stop it!" Violet cried in pain. Wilbur stopped and looked at her angrily. She pointed to her frozen foot.

"I'm stuck ..!" She said meekly.

Wilbur rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Where was her big mouth now? And arrogance? First she acted up so much and now he was the one who had to set things right!

"Oh great! You really cause nothing but trouble!" he cried, annoyed as he wondered how he could free Parr. Those words didn't really helped Violet. On the contrary. She became suddenly aware of her own useless inadequacy. Who was she at all without her super powers?  
Now she was dependent on the help of this brainless football ape! She, Invisigirl, who had previously mastered every situation, more or less heroic! But that was over now ... she was no longer Invisigirl ... Now she was a nobody ...  
She really wanted to start crying.

Lightning lay unconscious on the floor, but suddenly Delta slid across the ice towards the two teenagers!  
Wilbur broke a pole from the railing, and just at the moment as a Delta wanted to attack him, he reached out and struck with full force!  
But the iron pole was suddenly stopped, even before he had touched Delta at all!  
Although Delta's appearance seemed unimpressive and sickly, she had a large quantity of power; she had grabbed the iron pole and held it loosely with one hand while she glared at Wilbur dangerously!  
Wilbur was too stunned to react immediately. He only realized how the pole became so cold that it burnt in a matter of seconds!  
He cursed and dropped the pole!

Violet gasped! Delta would beat him up hard and she couldn't do anything about it! What should she do?! She had no other choice but to sit there and to watch this cruel performance!

But suddenly, without warning, Wilbur punched Delta right into her face! She hadn't seen that coming and fell to the ground unconscious.  
Violet stared, half relieved, half terrified at the motionless body ... Did Junior really just punch a girl in the face? Okay, she was a clone ... but still!

"Robinson! Behind you!" Medium cried from somewhere.

Wilbur turned around bewildered, but behind him was only a simple metal wall...

"Omega!" Violet screamed and while Wilbur tried to understand what that was supposed to mean a figure suddenly jumped out of the wall and lunged at him!

Wilbur barely managed to avoid this guy! Then he struck him from behind a powerful karate blow to his neck, so that Omega also kissed the dust and remained lying unconsciously. Wilbur looked at the three unconscious figures on the floor in front of him satisfied, when he suddenly perceived movements at the opposite end of the hall...

Robot guards ...!

... Many robot guards!

"Oh God! Oh God!" Violet yelled hysterically, when she discovered the approaching robots, " Run away, Junior!"

Wilbur's mind raced! Somehow he had to free Parr and fast! He couldn't just leave her here!  
He grabbed boldly for the iron pole, but he let drop immediately with a curse. The metal was still cold as hell after Delta had touched it.

Shots began to hit the wall behind them!  
At that moment, Inferno and Medium attacked the robots and stopped them.

Wilbur gritted teeth. He needed something with which he could touch the pole!  
His eye fell on Parr's now shabby dress. He grabbed her by the sleeve and ripped it off almost to her shoulder.

"Hey!" Violet complained, more or less confused. It was unbelievable that the woman was still worried about her clothes!  
Wilbur wrapped the piece of fabric around his hands and then grabbed the pole.

"What are you doing?" Violet asked hesitantly, almost afraid, because she was becoming clear what that would result in.

"Now just don't move!" he said out of breath, aiming for the ice still secure around her ankle.

"No! Oh no!" Violet cried in panic, eyes widening but Wilbur ignored her protest! Vi screamed frantically, squinted her eyes and clutched with both hands to the railing, preparing herself internally to the hellish pain!  
Then Wilbur struck.  
Violet's scream died away when she felt no pain. She opened one eye and saw that the ice was broken around her uninjured foot. She didn't immediately realized that she was free again and was able to run away.

There were too many robots than Inferno and Medium could defeat them all on their own. Some of them escaped, and raced toward the two teenangers!  
But instead of getting up, Violet stared in horror at the approaching mob!  
When she didn't move, Wilbur grabbed her and dragged her up the stairs roughly, at the very moment when Delta and the other two came back to consciousness!  
Delta stretched out her arm, still lying in the floor, and shot an ice beam after Wilbur and Violet. But it hit the stairs, freezing the metal instantly, thus, the metal lost the necessary elasticity and broke into a thousand pieces!  
Wilbur and Violet just made it in time with a daring leap onto the balustrade to be saved!

Then the two ran along the open balustrade in the direction of a protected corridor, where the younger versions were waiting for them.  
Violet's foot was still numb and she hobbled after Wilbur, when the robots suddenly opened fire! And they were still a quite far from the safe cover!

"What are they doing?" cried the young Violet horrified, almost angry. She and Wilbur were safe in the corridor. Their older versions were only a short distance away from them and were under fire. The shots hit very close next to them! They could be hit at any moment! Why didn't Violet's older version generate a force field? Just because she didn't want to reveal her secret identity?

"How can someone be so conceited?" she cried helplessly.

"Do something!" Wilbur cried hastily, when even more robots opened fire! Violet stretched out an arm and formed a force field around the two older teens.

Protected by the shimmering purple sphere, the two dragged to the corridor.  
Violet's older version collapsed immediately and leaned against a wall.  
The older Wilbur looked around, confused. What was a weird sphere before?

"Woah! What was that?" He asked in amazement.

His younger self looked over to the younger Violet, but she only stared at her older self angrily.

"What was that? Have you lost your mind? Are you so eager to protect your identity, that you would even accept to get killed?!" Vi began to bawl at her older self. The younger Wilbur winced. Vi actually didn't give the impression to be choleric, but now she was really angry!  
For the older Wilbur that was indeed a strange sight, but no longer relevant. He still had a question.

"What was that purple thing?" He turned to his younger self.

"You're so stupid! It's your damn duty to protect! But still this guy had to risk his life for you and you still didn't protect him from this hail of bullets!" continued the younger Violet shouting.

Her older version was still too shocked to realize all that consciously.  
She had just gone through the most horrible seconds of her entire life!  
Shots! Overall! And she couldn't protect herself! Neither herself nor him! Never before death had come so close to her and was so pervasive as now!

"I couldn't..." she began breathlessly.

"Why not?" cried her younger self, impatiently.

"I lost my powers!" Violet wailed, heavily breathing. Then she began to hyperventilate violently, and tears welled up in her eyes. It wasn't missing much and she had started to cry.

"What?" Wilbur cried, stunned. That was a disaster!

"Your WHAT?" cried his older version even more horrified.

All of a sudden Inferno and Medium came up to them flying and landed right in front of them.  
Inferno's expression was annoyed. She had noticed from afar what had happened, and she was extremely annoyed about the fact that Violet hadn't used her powers.  
The obligation of a super hero was not linked to his mask!Sure, they had to protect their identities, but only to a certain point! The first priority was still the protection of the weak!

"What's going on here?" she asked irritably.

"She lost her powers..." replied Violet's younger self, and crossed her arms. The whole thing didn't please her at all ...

"Now we know at least what this machine was for..." said the younger Wilbur casually. Suddenly the older Violet widened her eyes in desperation.

"Oh God! I am totally helpless! If someone shoots at me I'm going to die!" she stammered, completely hysterical.

"Welcome to my world!" Medium grinned at her.

"Is there a way to undo that?" Inferno asked seriously. They were a well functioning team ... When Violet was out, they lost a lot of fighting power ... Flame was responsible for everything, and a super less would not make this job easier.

"How? The machine is destroyed!" Medium replied.

"Okay, now don't panic ..." Inferno said, raising her hands soothingly, but more to gain some time to think. They expected from her to be professional and to set things right, but how was she supposed to do that, when she and Medium not only had to fight with clones and robots, to sabotage a weapon and to stop a lunatic guy from changing the time stream, but also to protect three - no, four civilians at the same time?

"Don't what ....?!" the older Violet bursted out suddenly,"Don't tell me anything about panic, you walking barbecue! For you it's just a piece of cake! The shots simply go right through you! Where have you been all the time, huh?! If you had been here, like you should, it wouldn't have come so far! Thanks to you Invisigirl is now history now!"  
These words hit the two young Supers hard, especially Flame who already had enough to worry about.

"Oh my God!" began the older Wilbur suddenly, who had watched all this totally stunned until now. But when he heard the name "Invisigirl", everything became clear to him.  
Violet Parr, this annoying girl who had appeared four years ago out of nowhere and had turned his life upside down, was a ... a super hero!?  
This idea was so absurd and nonsensical, but when he reflected the events of today, everything suddenly made sense somehow!

"It's true ..." he began again, "You're a freak! You're all freaks!" he cried horrified and backed away. Then he tore his black hair with both hands and stared at the ceiling in disbelief, "Oh man! I'm must be dreaming! I crashed into a tree and am dreaming this while the doctors are trying to revive me! That can't be true!" whimpered desperately.  
Suddenly, a red laser beam shot across the room and pierced right through Inferno's shoulder! Blood spurt and she fell in front of the older Violet on the floor!  
The younger Violet screamed in horror as she clung to Wilbur! The others backed away in shock but Inferno shortly transformed into a human torch and then stood in front of them unharmed again.  
The older Violet felt awful at the thought that she couldn't regenerate so easily, when she would get hit by Omicron's laser gaze.

"Ouch!" complained Inferno and turned in the direction, where the laser had come from.

"You'd better get you gone now!" cried Medium over her shoulder to the others. The two time travelers didn't hesitate for a second! Without waiting for their older versions, they ran away.  
The older Wilbur wanted to follow them, but something was missing. He turned around.

Parr leaned with wide eyes still at the wall. He ran back and grabbed her by her arm.  
At the same time Delta suddenly attacked Inferno! Fire and Ice clashed, it hissed and the corridors were filled with steam!

The four teenagers ran along a corridor, none of them knew the way to the rescue capsules! In addition, the steam made it difficult to see anything!

The two older versions had almost caught up with their younger selves, when suddenly a huge object crashed through the ceiling with a deafening noise and then crashed through the floor right between the two groups! The ground shook violently! Then light suddenly filled the corridor, which streamed through the huge hole that the object had struck!

The four, now separated by a yawning, unbridgeable abyss, stopped in shock!

Beside them was one of those giant robots. With one of its legs it had smashed right through the entire level, so that the hole between the time travelers and the older teens went deep down!  
Just like before, the artificial intelligence preferred the genetic information that had the most similarity to the samples.  
The red glowing eye of the robot was exactly at the level of the destroyed corridor! It focused the hole, then turned it over on his side, where the two time travelers were.  
Wilbur grabbed Violet's hand, and they both hid behind the damaged wall of the corridor. However, using infrared, the robot could still see them anyway ...  
With one of his legs, he stroke for a blow to eliminate its primary target for once and for all. The movement was so terribly slow, yet inexorable! There was nothing that could have stopped it!

"Run!" exclaimed the older Wilbur. The two younger teenagers jumped up and ran away just before the robot smashed precisely the place where they were sitting previously!

The two older versions couldn't follow them, so they had to return.  
They ran back through the gloomy corridors.  
Wilbur planned to get to the rescue capsules, and then save their younger versions before this robot caught them!  
He was surprised that Violet was able to keep up with him, but suddenly he remembered that Parr was a Super! Although that didn't matter currently because she had lost her super powers thanks to him!  
So, apparently it was indeed the case that their younger versions were probably less at risk than they were.

Suddenly Violet screamed!  
Wilbur jerked around!  
Behind them, at the other end of the corridor were two of the clones! The one with the red flashing eyes and the guy who had come through the wall and attacked him!  
They just stood there and looked at them ...  
Probably Violet's scream had attracted their attention!  
Wilbur grabbed Violet and pulled her after him! At the same moment, the clones chased after them!  
Suddenly, a red laser beam flashed low over their heads, hit a pipe and caused an explosion!  
The two teenagers ran into a side passage, which led downstairs. Wilbur simply jumped the six steps down. But hardly reached the bottom, Violet violetly bumbed into him from behind, so he was pressed against the wall!

"Watch out!" He complained.

"Now, RUN!" cried Violet panic.

Behind them they heard the steps of the two clones! Wilbur and Violet ran as fast as they could, though they had no idea where they were!  
Omega suddenly appeared behind them out of a wall, only a short distance away!  
The two teens ran along a side passage again, but then suddenly the light went off!

There was total darkness!

Suddenly Violet couldn't breathe anymore! She knew that they were persecuted by evil killer clones and that she had no powers to defend, but she couldn't prevent her phobia!  
She froze and couldn't move when the darkness surrounded her! The darkness was the abyss, and if she moved just one inch, she would fall and die!

Suddenly, someone pressed her hand over her mouth and pulled her roughly somewhere into the deadly darkness!  
Violet tried to scream in panic and fought back with punches and kicks.

Although she gave Wilbur a few quite strong strokes, he dragged her around a corner. He crouched with her against a wall. Those nasty clone guys were still behind them!  
He could only hope that they saw as bad in the darkness as he did and that the light didn't turn on again now!  
If only Parr wouldn't defend so hard!  
He pressed his hand on her mouth, but she still kept on kicking, what caused an almost infernal noise!  
If she didn't stop, the clones would find them, darkness or not!

Suddenly slow steps approached from the corridor next to them!Wilbur leaned forward until he was cheek to cheek with Violet and whispered barely audible into her ear.

"Shh, be quiet ..."

If she wasn't silent, the clones would hear them!  
Then he carefully took his hand from her mouth and prayed that she would not begin to scream.

And Violet really remained silent. She wanted to scream, but Omega's steps were much more threatening than the darkness! Suddenly her breathing seemed to be deafening and her heart beat was violently, so that Omega certainly had to hear it!  
Wilbur put his arms around her from behind and pulled her gently closer to him, so they both crouched at the wall, cheek to cheek, while the steps were almost right next to them.  
Violet felt Wilbur's heartbeat.

Oh man .. What if they would die now? Without super powers, she couldn't defend herself against the clones!  
But still ... somehow she felt more secure than she should. She pressed herself even closer at Wilbur, closed her eyes and imagined to be somewhere else ... somewhere at a sunny beach ...  
Wilbur was breathing gently into her neck, and for some reason it made this life-threatening situation seem less dreadful.

Wilbur joined Violet a little closer in his arms and concentrated on breathing as quiet as possible ... and on the wonderful scent of her hair.

Suddenly the steps stopped! Omega was standing right there and only the darkness separated them!


	36. Chapter 35

For a terrible long moment, the two teenagers held their breath...

They could hear the breathing of the clone! Why did he stop? Had he heard them? Was he listening?

When the steps slowly walked away and quietly vanished in the distance, they still scarcely dared to breath...

Then it was silent.

The two breathed a silent sigh of relief. When Wilbur relaxed, he suddenly realized that he had tensed his muscles all the time and therefore almost squashed Violet. They were still sitting cheek to cheek, and suddenly he became aware of this delicate situation.

Somehow, he wished that they could still sit here for a while just like that but Violet suddenly turned her head to him so that her nose touched his cheek. Reflexively, he turned to her too, so they suddenly sat there nose to nose, totally frozen.

He could feel her warm breath. This was so incredibly real!

Nothing now stood in the way of a kiss. But ... he couldn't kiss her! He couldn't do that, right? After all, well, they hated each other! Or rather, she hated him! Why should he kiss her, then? There was no reason at all! Why did he come up with this stupid idea anyway?!

And what would happen if he did...?

He would surely get a resounding slap!

These and a thousand other thoughts raced through Wilbur's mind, but before he was aware of it, he had already begun to take the risk! He leaned forward slowly, his nose already touching her cheek and against his expectations Violet did not drew back.

She just sat there petrified, wondering what was happening ... Did he want to kiss her?!

No! Why...?! He hated her!

But what was he doing then? No matter...

Violet simply decided to wait. Nevertheless, her heart began to race and she couldn't resist a gentle smile.

Suddenly the lights went on again! It was so bright that it stung in the eyes for a moment!

Wilbur squinted and blinked, but before his eyes had adjusted to the light, Violet suddenly pulled him to his feet and thus destroyed this strange and unique moment for ever.

"What?" Wilbur asked, confused.

"Run!" Violet screamed. At that moment Wilbur felt an extreme heat directly above his head and something exploded behind them!

He jerked around and saw that a long line was melted into the wall behind him! The metal was glowing yellow from the heat and was slowly flowing down the wall!

On the other side of the aisle stood Omicron!

Somehow, the two teenagers made it to another corridor and ran, but Omicron was hot on their heels!

The only way to escape his deadly laser beams was to often change the direction, which, however, meant that they had completely lost their bearings!

And then it happened!

Wilbur and Violet ran around a corner --

"Damn it!" Wilbur cursed in shock. They had landed in a dead end! There was no way out!

They wanted to turn around, but Omicron was already behind them and cut off their way back!

Startled, the two backed away against the wall, while Omicron came closer.

Wilbur desperately looked around for anything! Anything that could save them from this situation!

And really! There was something!

Wilbur stared dumbfounded at this means of escape, which was given to them miraculously in this hopeless situation. It had the same color like the wall and therefore was difficult to discover, but it was there. And that meant they were saved!

Violet realized nothing from that. She began to give in. How often should she prepare to die today? Couldn't this guy just laser them into halves already? Then this terrible day would finally be over.

Omicron's eyes began to glow terribly red.

Violet gulped and grabbed Wilbur's hand.

Then Omicron fired his laser gaze!

But suddenly, just in time, the only thing Violet realized was that she had been roughly and unexpectedly pulled aside!

She found herself in an elevator, and in a strong embrace! The doors closed with a hiss.

Violet looked completely stunned at the door, and didn't know what should be more surprising: that she was not dead, or that Wilbur had saved her again and held her in his arms!

"Yay! This stupid clone didn't see that coming!" Wilbur laughed triumphantly as he pressed some button and the elevator then slowly began to move down.

Violet needed a moment to organize her thoughts, until she became aware that their current situation was not a bit better than in the dead end!

"Wait! Do you seriously think, you saved us?" She cried, and broke away from Wilbur.

He gave her an incomprehensible glance. This woman had always something to complain about!

"This is an elevator, a Junior! What do you mean Omicron will do when -" she had no opportunity to finish the sentence! The sudden weightlessness made her gasp!

Just like Violet had feared, Omicron had capped the lift cable with his laser gaze and the elevator suddenly raced with tremendous speed into the abyss! Wilbur only felt how Violet clung to him.

The elevator was so fast that sparks shot into the cabin until it crashed with an explosion on the lowest floor!

* * *

Meanwhile, their younger versions ran for their lives. They were a few floors below now, but the giant killer robot was still after them!

When they ran another floor below, they stopped in a dimly lit corridor for a much-needed breather. They were both completely out of breath and Wilbur doubted that he had ever run so much in his entire life.

Violet noticed a gentle pressure on her right hand. She turned her head and saw that she and Wilbur were still holding hands. They hadn't released over the whole time.

Violet looked away quickly, but could not help but laughing silently.

"What's wrong?" Wilbur gasped breathlessly. But instead of responding, Violet squeezed his hand briefly. He looked down and then up, a little scared, at Violet, who beamed at him with her bright blue eyes. Now he could not help but giggling too.

And so the two stood there in that dark hallway, and laughed as if there was nothing to worry about.

The situation was so absurd! They were in mortal danger, several miles high on a floating platform, chased by a giant killer robot, whose only target was to kill them, and yet there was no reason for Wilbur to despair as so long as they stood here together and held each others hands. Somehow he knew that everything would be all right again.

He didn't know it yet, but from this moment on he would forever combine this crystal clear, intense feeling of security with Violet, as soon as he looked into her eyes.

Suddenly one of the legs of the robot crashed beside them into the wall and caused a lot of destruction. Wilbur winced and pressed Violets hand. Violet, of course, enabled her shield, so they had nothing to fear. The robot had missed them again and had struck another huge hole into the building. Then the two ran around a corner into another corridor.

"Slowly it's getting pretty boring, don't you think?" Violet cried with a wry smile. But she had hardly finished the sentence, when a pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared directly in front of them.

Sigma! The clone girl with super strength!

The two teenagers squealed in shock and ran back. But behind them was the giant robot! Suddenly he rammed his legs in front of them into the ground, so that metal and stone pieces flew around and so cut off their way!

They turned back again, but Sigma was right behind them! She came closer and closer!

Within a short moment she was standing right in front of them!

The two time travelers were trapped!

Sigma suddenly swung out for a mighty blow! Wilbur squinted his eyes and clung to Violet!

Then, suddenly, they both lost the ground beneath their feet. It felt as if they were forcefully speeded up in a transport bubble!

But then the bubble seemed to burst all of a sudden and the two teenagers fell not very gently to the ground.

Wilbur struggled on his feet and immediately pulled Violet up too. Then the two stared in disbelief directly through the circular hole in the wall in front of them. Sigma's tremendous force, which could easily be compared with the strength of Mr. Incredible, had smashed the two through four walls and Violet's force field had left a perfectly round hole.

Now, Sigma stood at the other end and looked a little irritated over to the two uninjured teenagers.

Obviously, it bothered her that her attack didn't have the desired effect.

"Are you okay?" Wilbur asked, worried.

"Yeah, I'm -"

Suddenly a deafening, shrill scream filled the room!

Wilbur and Violet jerked around!

They had landed in a room with a huge runway that stretched out into the black night sky.

And right in front of them stood the time machine!

Cobra was about to enter, under his arm he held the handcuffed, little Wilma, who screamed incessantly!

The two teenagers ran to the time machine to help Wilma, but all of a sudden they were surrounded by a white, icy mist, that suddenly froze to ice! But Violet had formed a force field just in time, so that she and Wilbur stood in a cavity made of ice for a moment. Then Violet increased the size of the force field, so that the ice broke into thousand pieces and flew in all directions!

On a balustrade two floors above them stood Delta and Lightning!

Omega suddenly rushed out of a wall right next to the two teenagers and shot towards them! Just before he reached the two frightened time travellers, Violet generated a force field right in front of him, so that Omega ran head-on against it, and was violently thrown back! At that moment, Delta and Lightning lunged at them!

"Get her! I'll manage here!" Violet cried quickly over her shoulder!

For a brief moment Wilbur doubted whether Violet could take them on alone, but then he thought of defenceless Wilma!

He ran to the time machine and climbed onto its wing!

"Wilbur!" Wilma cried relieved!

At this very moment, Wilbur became aware for the first time what it meant to be a big brother.

He had to save his little sister! No matter what happened! Even if she wasn't even born in his time!

But suddenly, just when he wanted to attack Cobra, Wilbur stared right into the barrel of a radiation gun in front of him!

Cobra fired, Wilbur dodged in time, but he lost his balance, fell backwards from the wing of the time machine on the ground and landed painfully on his back!

Cobra bent over the wing and aimed at Wilbur again! He was furious! His clones were just too stupid! They weren't even able to kill these stupid kids and now he had to do it himself!

He fired again, but Wilbur rolled aside just in time!

But then he was almost hit by a red laser beam, which left a red-glowing hole in the metal ground, only a short distance from Wilbur's head!

Omicron had now appeared on the upper balustrade and had it in for Wilbur!

Wilbur rolled under the time machine in the hope that he would be safe here, at least for a moment!

At the same moment Lightning shot bolts into the ground just in front of Violet. She tried to protect herself with a force field, but the electric shock went on through the ground, so that Violet cried out in pain and collapsed!

The situation was hopeless!

* * *

First the older Violet was not sure what she felt exactly. She had no pain, so she apparently wasn't injured, although she felt a heavy, warm pressure on her chest so that she couldn't move or breathe. But then the pressure suddenly vanished and something moved. She opened her eyes and saw that Junior had been this pressure.

He had more or less lying on her, but now he sat up and looked at her confused. This confusion was the type someone felt when they didn't have the slightest clue what was actually happening.

Violet also had no idea what had happened, she just knew that Junior had never ever looked so cute - !

His raven black hair was white from dust, just like his face, the only dark were his warm, hazel-coloured eyes!

While the dust slowly died away, Wilbur looked around in disbelief, trying to understand what had just happened ...

The entire elevator ... the whole construction of several tons was destroyed. Nothing was left except of a pile of rubble from fist-sized pieces! But they both were in perfect condition apart from a few scratches ... He at least.

He looked down at Violet, who was staring at him with her big, ocean blue eyes. She looked just as shocked as him. Hopefully she wasn't injured!

"Are you hurt...?" he asked hesitantly.

Violet couldn't answer. She bit her tongue so hard that tears almost shot into her eyes and managed to shake her head jerkily. With all her might she tried not to smile! She didn't know why at all, she just had the strong desire to grin from ear to ear! It was like millions of laughing butterflies chased each other through her belly!

She was only peripherally aware of the fact that they both had survived this crash unharmed. Her reaction was actually caused by her current situation

Wilbur lay half on her, he had protected her with his embrace, his arms still around her shoulders, he really seemed concerned about her and he just looked so damn good! She just couldn't stop looking into those gentle, hazel eyes! Her heart raced 180 miles per hour, and she felt how her cheeks became warm!

But when she became aware of this rather unusual reaction, she abruptly began to feel ashamed.

What the heck was wrong with her?

At that moment, she forced herself back into her old role, and tried not to dissemble.

She cleared her throat impatiently and gave Wilbur an extremely irritated glance, whereupon he slid down from her with slightly red cheeks.

The two scrambled to their feet and brushed the white dust from their clothes in silence.

Only now did Violet see the chaos around them. Everything was full of debris!

She looked incredulously up, while she slowly backed away from the pile of rubble. They had crashed down about six floors.

They were supposed to be dead! How could they have survived that?

She had no powers anymore, so it wasn't because of her that they had survived this crash.

Violet had to admit that they would have been pulverized long ago if it had been up to her... She had already given up...

She! A super hero! Usually she never gave up! Defeat had never been an option!

But apparently her self-confidence had vanished together with her powers.

Fortunately she was with Junior...

_"Keep moving forward..."_

These words echoed silently though her mind like a distant memory. With a wry smile, she looked at Junior out of the corner of her eyes. He still looked a little stunned after the crash, but right that made him look so incredibly cute, because he didn't have his usual "I-am-better-than-you" mug... He just looked confused and just a little bashed-up. He had holes in his jeans and was still dusty from top to bottom.

That was not the Wilbur Robinson, she thought she knew. Robinson Junior hadn't even dared to leave the house with holey pants at Halloween!

But everything - clothes, appearance, status and the years of their differences - all this was no longer important.

Wilbur awkwardly stumbled through the rubble after her.

"Thanks ..." he suddenly heard a sheepish, quiet voice. He spun around in surprise.

Parr looked a little exhausted, her dark hair was completely dishevelled, her dress was torn, she had a few bloody scratches on her knees...and yet it seemed to him as if he was seeing her for the first time.

When he didn't respond, however, Parr raised an eyebrow sceptically. Only now he realized that he was staring at her.

"No big deal..." he finally replied a little uncertainly, looking at his feet and rubbing his neck uncomfortably.

Suddenly, a thought shot through his mind that made his face turn hot.

The kiss ...

Or rather, the almost-kiss...or whatever that had been a few minutes ago.

But exactly because he didn't know what it was, there was room for speculations.

Wilbur noticed how he was about to get pretty nervous.

An awkward silence filled the room that was almost unbearable for Wilbur. It seemed as if Parr was only waiting for him to bring up this juicy incident...However, he would have liked to pretend as if it had never happened. But he couldn't ignore it, could he? How could he ignore it if she knew about it too? If she knew about it at all! Maybe he had only imagined it!

Somehow, he suddenly felt dizzy; he slipped on a rock and stumbled before he found his balance again.

"Are you okay?" Violet asked anxiously.

"Yeah! Yeah! Everything's fine!" Wilbur burst out a bit too keenly, as if Violet had just mentioned the kiss. Violet jerked and looked puzzled at him. He looked away and pointed to the next best corridor.

"I say we go this way!" he said determined, only to change the subject, and went to the corridor before Violet could say anything.

Violet looked after him, a little confused before shrugging and tripping after him on her high heels.

Then the air was suddenly cut by a distant, yet horrifying scream!

The cry of a young child!

The two terrified teenagers looked at each other questioningly - when suddenly an unspeakably awful certainty came to Wilbur's mind.

Wilma...!

His little sister was here!


	37. Chapter 36

**Beta reading once again by awsome animeloveramy!**

**Honestly, I don't like this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! Thanks for all your support!**

* * *

Wilbur had never run so fast before! Neither during the training nor ever in his entire life. His feet were barely touching the ground and he could hear is heart beat hammering in his ears! The walls raced past him as he ran in the direction where Wilma's scream had come from! Somewhere behind him echoed Violet's steps.

But of all that, Wilbur hardly realized anything. He had only one thought in his mind: he had to save his sister! If something happened to Wilma, he would never be able to forgive himself in his life! He would never be able to look into his parents' eyes if he didn't save Wilma. After all he was her big brother!

The corridor ended abruptly and Wilbur stood on a high balustrade, followed by Violet. Completely bewildered, they looked at the scenario about 50 feet below them!

The clones attacked their younger versions, while some guy - it had to be Cobra - boarded with Wilma into the time machine!

When Wilbur saw his sister in the clutches of this guy, he only wanted to strangle him on the spot, if he only would be close enough! Angrily, his hands clutched around the railing as if it were Cobras throat.

Wilbur looked around in despair; it was too deep for jumping, and the next staircase downstairs was on the other side of the hall! He would never reach Wilma in time!

Suddenly he discovered that the balustrade was carried by long poles that stood side by side at a distance of 30 feet and extending from the ground below to the floor above. Without wasting another thought he ran to one of these poles before climbing over the railing, clinging to the pole and sliding down.

Just at the moment when Wilbur touched the floor, the time machine lifted from the ground!

In horror, he was forced to watch this madman not only change the time stream, but to kidnap his helpless sister! With an infernal scream, Wilbur ran towards time machine and jumped! He got hold of a wheel of the undercarriage, and clung to it with all his might, while the time machine continued to gain altitude!

Suddenly, the undercarriage was retracted and as Wilbur tried to hold on desperately, it slipped from his grip and he fell, crashing hard on the side! He had scarcely recovered from the crash, when suddenly Omega attacked him! Wilbur managed to give him a violent blow to his stomach causing him to brake down.

But that wasn't important!

Completely helpless, he looked up to the time machine that was still so close and yet unreachable!

"Wilma!" he cried desperately.

"Wilbur! Help me!" cried the little child's voice full of fear. It tore Wilbur's heart with grief! He wanted to reply something, anything to soothe her, even though he knew it was useless. But suddenly he was again attacked by Omega, who had struggled back on his feet. He attacked Wilbur from behind and pushed him hard to the ground!

At that moment, Inferno and Medium appeared in the hall! Inferno examined the situation quickly and had a plan within a few seconds!

"Medium! Robinson! Help me to drive the clones into this room here!" she cried, pointing to a small corridor.

"What about my sister?!" Wilbur cried, while he still wrestled with Omega. Although Omega possessed only the ability to walk through walls, and wasn't much stronger than Wilbur, he had still a bleeding nose and some difficulties to keep him at bay.

Inferno looked up to the time machine and didn't hesitate a second. She shot up as a fireball, but before she was even close to the time machine, Delta attacked her with her ice beam! Inferno's fire went out and she fell to the ground!

The younger Violet, who just put up a good fight with Sigma (which meant, Sigma was zanily hammering against Violet's force field without any effect), was not far off when she saw Inferno crash on the ground and heard her bones break! Violet shuddered with fear, but at the same instant Inferno regenerated herself again, only to be directly attacked by Delta! Again, the entire hall was filled with steam in a few seconds!

Meanwhile, the older Violet was still standing on the upper level and watched helplessly at what happened beneath her. Desperately, she clung tightly to the metal railing. She had the strong desire to do something, but she had no super powers! What should she do?! But when the time machine suddenly flew off to the launch pad in the direction of the exit, she could no longer hesitate! Reflexively and probably out of a habit, she began to act!

Frantically, she looked around! She somehow had to get to the time machine! She had to save Robinson's daughter and to stop the time machine before Cobra disappeared in the time stream!

Suddenly she spotted a long steel cable that was stretched across the hall, which was still filled with steam. Violet ran towards the cable. Still running, she took off her shoes, hooked the heels of them in the cable, and without hesitation jumped off the railing and slid with high speed down the cable causing her dress (or what was left of it) to fly out behind her like a red flag! She dipped into the steam for a moment and could hardly see anything!

When the time machine suddenly appeared below her, she let go and jumped right at Cobra's back! He collapsed with a cry of pain, crashing on the dashboard and losing his weapon! But she had no opportunity to enjoy her perfectly calculated jump or to pull Wilma from the back seat before Cobra elbowed her a hard into the stomach. She staggered back, holding her belly. Cobra used the opportunity and grabbed his weapon, but Violet was faster and kicked it away. Then she struck out for a blow!

But suddenly - !

A deafening tinnitus didn't only paralyze Violet, but all people in the hall and across the entire platform at one stroke! Violet desperately pressed both hands on her ears, but it was useless! The noise didn't seem to come from the outside! First, she could still hear Wilma's screaming, but then everything was drowned out by this deafening, brain curdling sound! The noise was so strong and all-encompassing, that Violet was about to lose consciousness again! And she was not the only one; everyone on the platform - even the clones - felt the same!

Except Medium... she was the one that averted the worst from the others. This meant, however, that she also got the most concentrated load, like a dam that protects the land from the destruction of the thunderous flood.

She tried desperately to protect the others from their certain death, only by the power of her mind! She built a mental wall around her and the other individuals on the platform. The effort was so strong that her nose began to bleed. Nevertheless, she was amazed that she was able to afford something like this at all! She had underestimated the potential of her powers all her life! When she felt that the others started to recover, she looked over to her sister.

"What the hell was that?" Flame cried, who still pressed her hands on her ears, just like Omicron and Lightning behind her.

"That's Alpha ..." started Medium with a trembling voice. She had difficulty to maintain the mental defense! Alpha's attacks were just too powerful!

"He is angry ..." she added, while blood dripped from her lips.

"What?! I thought he doesn't have feelings!" replied her sister.

"Now he does..." Medium replied bitterly before she teleported herself away. She was the only one who could take on this enemy.

Of all that Violet realized nothing in the time machine. Her head still hurt like hell, and apparently Cobra recovered much faster than she did! He tore the still-dazed Violet to her feet and then gave her a hard blow to her the face so that she dropped out of the passenger cabin. She managed just in time to cling to the wing of the time machine!

The strike had one good side effect: now she was in her right mind again. Cobra had turned around to the dashboard, sat on the driver's seat and began to press a few buttons. Then, suddenly the hatch of the time machine closed! Wilma screamed frantically for her brother! Violet heard Junior's voice calling from somewhere, while the time machine again started to move!

She somehow managed to climb back on the wing! However, she had trouble keeping her balance without shoes on the slick airfoil. She leaned on the glass hatch, when she suddenly realized inside that Cobra aimed at her with the gun!

Cobra fired and the glass shattered!

Violet dodged away, but still a strand of hair got burned, and she almost fell off the wing of the time machine! Everything went so incredibly fast! Somehow, she managed to hold on and pull up again. With the shot, the glass hatch was completely destroyed! Violet leaned forward and pulled Wilma from back seat, that was covered with shattered glass, out on the wing! When Cobra noticed her, and saw that she was still not dead, his head turned red with rage.

"You lousy bitch! What do I have to do to get rid of you!?" He yelled furiously. But then, instead of shooting at her, he grabbed the steering wheel and yanked it violently to the side! The time machine flew a sharp curve, so that Violet, holding Wilma with one arm, with the other one clinging to the time machine, had difficulties to hold on!

* * *

The fight against Alpha was absolutely not like Emely had imagined. It wasn't a battle between good and evil. It was just some pointless fight like so many others, and would also end tragically like so many others. Alpha was strong, incredibly strong! And his attacks were full of hate and anger! But just that humanized this poor creature! Just a few minutes ago he had really gotten aware of himself and his environment! He wasn't a dead hearted object, not a mindless slave anymore, but a man! A man who had been betrayed and disappointed ...

Emely could understand why he was so angry. Nevertheless, she had to stop him!

They were in the dark room, where Alpha had been imprisoned by Cobra. However, the walls were deformed now like from a violent shock wave. Everything was wet and the water dropped from the walls and the ceiling. Alpha concentrated his attacks now much stronger, they were no longer comparable with the simple psi-attacks from before! Even the walls squeaked and moved under the telekinetic tension that filled the room!

Emely, however, was weakened ... but not from the exertion, as she thought first. After a while she noticed that fear was paralyzing her... her fear of wanting to explore the full potential of her powers. When Alpha started an attack again, it just happened.

She didn't want it! It happened out of an accidental reflex... it was so easy; like blowing out a candle.

Just like last time she let Alpha enter her mind just a little, only to attack him then from all sides with the indomitable strength of her spirit. But this time she could not stop herself in time. Suddenly, the light of his life was blown out... and everything that left was darkness.

Medium opened her eyes...

And even though she knew what she would see, it still was a shock. Hot tears began running down her cheeks, when she realized what she had done.

Alpha was dead, he lay stretched out on the ground a few feet in front of her.

She had killed him ... just like that ... out of a fatal misfortune, because of an experiment to experience the limit of her powers, just to satisfy her curiosity, she didn't wipe out the life of a mindless clone, but of a man!

* * *

Wilbur pushed Omega into the narrow, dark corridor, and his younger self suddenly shut the door with a push of a button! Inferno then put her hands on the metal door, so that the metal began to glow orange from heat! This way they could make sure that Omega and Lightning couldn't escape. The other clones were unconscious. Suddenly a cry of panic filled the air!

"Medium! Inferno!" Violet screamed, who still clung with Wilma on the wing of the time machine. Inferno, Wilbur and the two time travelers jerked around as the time machine flew towards the exit.

Without further hesitation, Inferno raced as a flickering ball of fire towards the time machine! When Violet saw her, she let go of Wilma (to Wilbur's horror, who almost got a heart attack!). Violet knew that she could rely on Inferno hundred percent!

Wilma slipped from the wing with a shrill shriek; fell down a few feet until Inferno caught her!

Shortly before Inferno touched Wilma, she transformed to her normal form! She grabbed Wilma, firmly closed her into her arms and protected the little girl with her body from the crash! She felt that she had broken some bones, but after she had ascertained that Wilma was well and unhurt, she transformed back to the fire and rushed behind the time machine, which had almost left the platform!

Suddenly, bright plasma began to glow around the time machine!

Violet still clung to the wing, but when she saw that the time machine was about to leave the platform, she panicked! She would prefer to break her bones here than to fall many hundred feet to smash on the ground!

But what about the time machine? Violet tried with all her strength to hold on to the wings! She had to stop Cobra! No matter what! Even if she had to follow him through the time stream!

Suddenly the time machine made a sudden move aside, Violet could no longer hold on! She slipped and fell! She was preparing for the pain of the crash, but suddenly she felt how she was grabbed roughly and suddenly she rolled across the floor with Inferno!

She had only a short time to recover.

"No! Not me! You have to stop -" she stammered breathlessly, while the time machine disappeared in a bright flash of light "... the time machine..."

Inferno struggled on her feet and regenerated herself.

"Hey! A little 'thank you' wouldn't hurt you!" she cried, offended that her rescue didn't get the proper appreciation. Meanwhile, the younger Wilbur helped up Wilma and carefully unfixed the bonds.

"Are you okay?" he asked, worried about the little girl. Wilma was silent and just shook her head distraught. Then her big, dark brown eyes filled with tears.

"I want Mommy ..." she choked.

"Oh honey, ..." Wilbur said, touched and stroked her head, "we're going to take you to Mom, okay?" he added while he picked her up.

Suddenly, Wilma was pulled away from him by his older self! The older Wilbur pulled the little girl into his arms, kissed her on the forehead and cheeks and whispered incessantly to her, but Wilbur couldn't understand what he was saying.

In the moment when he saw his older version cuddling with his future sister, Wilbur felt a burning jealousy flaring up in him.

This, however, extinguished immediately when Violet approached. She looked nervous, and uneasily looked back at the from heat orange glowing door, where the clones and Lightning were caught.

"I'm not sure whether this will keep them out for so long ..." she said uneasily.

Wilbur fought the urge to say that the clones were now their minor problem. The time machine was gone, and thus any chance to return back to their time. Probably they would no longer exist in a few minutes. But he didn't want her to make pointless reproached again, so he remained silent and looked away. Then they followed his older self to Inferno and Violet's older version.

"Are you okay?" Inferno asked, now sounding more motherly and helped the older Violet to get up.

Violet touched the elbow of her bare arm (whose sleeve had been torn off by Junior). She had just hurt it during the crash. She looked at the others and then shook her head frustrated.

"Doesn't matter now! Cobra is gone! With the time machine..." she muttered and then drooped, discouraged "We're dead!"

Inferno gave Junior a questioning glance.

"It's only a matter of minutes ..." he said softly, and hugged Wilma tightly, wiping away the blood from his nose.

When she heard that, the younger Violet began to make the most terrible self-reproaches.

So.

That was it.

It was over...

Now Cobra had the power over time and space... only thanks to her!

Only because she was so egoistic and stupid, she had made it possible for Cobra to destroy the world! Probably he would first wipe out her existence and then Wilbur's father!

At the thought of what that meant for Wilbur's life, tears shot into her eyes. She turned her head away... the others shouldn't see that she had nothing better to do but crying about the trouble she had caused. But suddenly she felt a warm pressure on her hand.

"It's all my fault!" she whispered, angry at herself and sniffed.

"Oh, nonsense!" Wilbur said determined, put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around so that he could see her face. "Well ... maybe you are... a little bit!" he added smiling and shrugged. Violet laughed, while the tears streamed down her cheeks. Then she suddenly found herself back in a solid, comforting embrace. It was incredible how quickly this reassured her again. She felt so good and safe in his presence, even if she was responsible for the destruction of the world.

When the older Violet saw that, she felt how their cheeks became hot. From the corner of her eye she ventured a cautious look at Junior. He had closed his eyes, while he held his little sister in his arms, gently seesawing back and forth. Violet had to smile at this sight.

Only a short time ago she had regarded him as a narcissistic idiot, but now it became clear to her that he was not only a loving brother, but also absolutely fearless and courageous. How often had he saved her life today?

'Well, Violet ... seems like you've been a little superficial, concerning Junior' she thought, with a bashful smile.

Suddenly, Medium entered the hall limping. She looked pale as a sheet, the curly hair covered her eyes.

"Hey, good work with Alpha!" Inferno cried half-heartedly across the hall. She saw no reason for optimism when their existence would soon be wiped out anyway.

Medium twiddled nervously with her fingers and looked down at her feet. Only when she came closer, the others saw that she was crying.

"Hey honey, are you hurt?" Inferno asked, worried and ran to Medium. When she heard this question, Medium burst into tears. The sobs shook her slender body so strong that she could hardly stand on her feet.

"I've killed him..." Medium stammered between the sobs. Inferno laid her hands on her shoulders.

"You've only defended us and yourself..." she said soothingly, and stroked her curly blonde hair.

"I've killed him ... just like that ... just because I was able to..." she continued sobbing. An awkward silence began to spread. Nothing was heard but her bitter sobbing.

"You had no choice!" said Inferno choked up, now fighting with the tears herself. She didn't want to believe what her sister was trying to say.

Although Wilma didn't really understand this depressing scenario, it still made her sad, so much that she began to cry. She put her little arms around her brother's neck and sobbed quietly.

"Shhh, it's good... everything's okay ..." Wilbur lied to reassure her, while he turned and slowly walked a few steps away.

"I killed him because I can! Because I thought that his life wasn't worth anything! How could I be so presumptuous?" cried Medium, while she tried to free from her sister's grip, "I won't use these damn powers ever again! Mom was right all the time!" she added defiantly.

Suddenly there was a deafening roar! Pipes burst; debris flew around, while several giant robot legs crashed into the hall! And the glowing door that would keep out the clones was destroyed! The clones were free again and this time there was not only one giant robot, but there were two in the hall!

Inferno led them all behind a protected wall in order to cover! Even if their last hour had literally struck, she surely wasn't going to leave them to these mindless clones and robots!

"Okay, that's the plan! You all stay together!" she commanded, and gave all Violets and Wilbur's a stern gaze, then she turned to the younger Violet "You're in charge! I rely on you! You have to protect them on their way to the rescue capsules!"

At these words, Violet gulped and really felt the heavy weight of responsibility on her shoulders. Inferno then turned to the older Violet.

"And YOU insane girl won't dare to do more stunts like that before! Is that clear?! I can't take care of you constantly! And you -" she turned to Medium suddenly.

"Huh?"

"You can carry her, right?" said Inferno and pointed at Wilma.

"Uhm, well ... I think so ..." Medium replied hesitantly, her cheeks were still wet.

"Take her and bring her down to safety!" commanded Inferno, and wanted to take Wilma, but the little girl clung to her brother's shirt.

"But -" began Wilbur, who really didn't want to give his sister away again.

"But nothing! It's too dangerous for her here!" interrupted Inferno and tried to solve Wilma's grip of Wilbur's collar.

"NOOOO! I don't want! I wana stay with you, Wilbur!" cried Wilma. It almost broke Wilbur's heart.

"Sweetie, you have to! Medium brings you to Mommy!" he said reassuringly and pressed a kiss on her cheek, "Everything is going to be alright! You'll see!"

Wilma released him reluctantly and Medium took her.

"I'll take care of her" assured the young super hero.

Suddenly, a hydraulic line exploded right next to them, the liquid sprinkled on the ground and caught fire! The clones were closely followed by the robots!

"Come on! That's the way to the rescue capsules!" cried Inferno and shooed the others away, while she prepared to fight against the superiority!

The others ran off, while Medium, with Wilma her arms, jumped from the edge of the platform!

* * *

There was a hopeless mess on the big square. Usually the area, that was built right next on the waterfront of Todayland, was spacious and bright, but because of the power failure it was very dark and the whole place, that was crowded with people, now made a menacing and disturbing impression. Especially because the only sources of light were candles and makeshift torches, so that everything appeared in a blood-red, flickering light.

A police squad had marched up and secured the area, but still in the darkness, they could not ensure that some curious onlookers strayed onto the place, or just people who wanted to know what all this chaos - caused by the power failure - was about.

Cornelius stood still and watched about every five seconds on his watch, even though it didn't work anymore since the power breakdown. He could only guess that it should be time in a few minutes. Then the time machine would show up exactly on the centre of the square. The police would arrest and access Tenner ... then his children and the space-time continuum would be saved...

This was the plan at least...

He could only hope that Tenner didn't have the opportunity to notice his modifications on the time machine...

Cornelius realized that he was tearing a piece of paper nervously. That was a stupid habit that always appeared when he was impatiently waiting for the first test run of a new invention.

But now it wasn't about some stupid invention, but about his children! He angrily threw the paper on the ground, as if it had done something to him.

Suddenly, he felt Franny's gaze. He didn't turn around, but stared at the paper on the ground instead and then on his non-functioning watch. He knew that Franny was pale, that she had cried and was terribly scared. But what should he do? He had just as much fear as she had. Cornelius couldn't bear her gaze. This whole mess was only his fault. He should have never invented this stupid time machine!

Cornelius suddenly wished that she would shout at him, that she would make reproaches to him - but she just stood silently behind him, and he knew that tears were running down her cheeks. He had to say something; he wanted to say something, to apologize, anything...

When the silence between them became almost unbearable, a general uproar arose over in the crowd.

"What's going on?" Franny asked quietly.

"Something's up there!" someone shouted suddenly, and before his voice fell silent, they saw the silhouette of an object landing in the distance. It was too small to be the time machine, but Cornelius still ran up to it, closely followed by Franny.

The crowd had formed a circle. In the middle stood of a young woman, who wore a super suit. And in her arms she held -

"Wilma!" Franny exclaimed, while she rushed past Cornelius and literally tore her little daughter out of Medium's arms. A sigh of relief went through the crowd when the mother joined her child happily into her arms.

But Cornelius' relief didn't last for long.

"What about my son?" he asked breathlessly.

"They are fine, don't worry," Medium replied with a smile. Then her eyes began to glow all of a sudden.

_"I gotta go ..."_ she said with a strange echoing voice, and suddenly, with a bright flash of light, she disappeared.

"They...?!" he heard Franny's skeptical voice suddenly. He turned to her and pulled uneasily on his collar while he tried to evade her bewildered gaze.

"I'll ... um ... explain that later ..."

* * *

Also check out Vstriker's Willet fanfic Breaking the Loop! YAY for Wilbur x Violet!


	38. Chapter 37

On the way to the rescue capsules, our four heroes were running along at the edge of the platform. On their right expanded the endless black night. The wind freshened and tore at them as if it wanted to pull them down into the black abyss.

Behind them, Inferno tried to hold the clones and the two giant robots at bay all alone. The four could hear one explosion after the next!

Hopefully Medium had returned quickly, the older Violet thought concerned, and hopefully they reached the rescue capsules in time! But was that still important at all? Cobra had the time machine... They could stop exiting at any moment...!

Suddenly, without warning, they lost the ground beneath their feet! But they didn't fall. The platform had made a hard U-turn and was in a dangerous banking now! The four slid across the floor right towards the abyss!

Fortunately, there was a railing they could cling to! The younger Wilbur, however, almost slipped through the bars, only the courageous intervention of both Violets prevented him from falling! They grabbed him just in time; each holding one of his hands. But the centrifugal force was so strong, however, that the two had trouble to hold him! The entire structure of the platform creaked dangerously under it's tremendous load!

"What's going on?" the younger Violet shouted over the noise, while Wilbur climbed back up onto the railing again.

"We changed direction!" replied the older Wilbur. He was seriously worried. If he was correct, they now flew back in the direction the city. He only hoped that Cobra wiped out their existence before the clones began to attack and destroy the city.

Suddenly, the ground trembled again, but this time it was different! They were rhythmic impacts that made the ground quake, metal crashing on metal. The echo caused the air to vibrate! It sounded almost like ... steps!

Huge, gigantic steps!

Everybody listened strained; too stunned to move!

Then there was an infernal bang! Walls cracked, wires, cables and pipes were torn apart as one of the giant robots stumbled through the construction, destroying it. It stomped straight towards the four teenagers! Apparently it could not keep the balance in this precarious tilted position; on the smooth metal floor its metal claws had no grip!

It tumbled over the railing, where the four lay, without hitting them fortunately, before plunging into the bottomless depths of the black night!

However, one of its claws got stuck in the railing, and it suddenly broke; going down with the robot!

Everybody cried with fright when they suddenly fell!

But their cries died away... and then it was silent...

The younger Violet squinted her eyes, expecting the worst... But nothing happened. She opened her eyes and looked around frantically. The terrible fear came to her mind that one of the others probably fell. Above her hung the older Wilbur and clung to the railing, and below her were her older self and Wilbur. Relieved, she found that they all were still alive.

The metal railing was still attached with some screws on the platform, so that the part on which they were holding hung down like a rope ladder. The wind was strong and pulled at the instable structure. The screws would certainly not hold much longer.

"Are you okay?!" exclaimed the older Wilbur downwards. The others intimated to him that they were feeling well, but the frightened teenagers could only breathe for a moment, because suddenly the platform completed its U-turn and now flew straight again! The load on the remaining screws that held the railing, changed! One of the screws broke off, and the teenagers fell again a few feet down!

They all clutched tightly to the railing until it stopped with a powerful jerk! Violet almost slipped! She looked down. Her legs dangled over the black, bottomless night sky! The sight made her stop breathing! She was paralyzed with horror and didn't dare to move!

"Don't look down!" She suddenly heard the stern voice of their older self beneath her. Then she felt how she was grabbed by her collar from above.

"Go! Climb to the top! Quickly!" cried the older Wilbur and pulled her up. She somehow climbed past him up the railing, just like on a rope ladder. She reached the platform first, and turned around to check for the others. From the safe platform the abyss looked much less dangerous. The others were still climbing up. First came Junior, then her older version and then Wilbur. Vi felt uneasy. What if he fell?

The older Wilbur reached the platform shortly after her. He checked the last three screws, on which swung the heavy metal railing. At the moment, it looked stable, but it wouldn't last forever. They had to hurry! He turned around to help the others up on the platform.

Then happened what Violet had feared!

When Wilbur wanted to climb another rung of the 'ladder', he was caught by a gust of wind, slipped and fell!

"NO! WILBUR!" Violet screamed, scared to death, and clung at his older version!

But even before she had uttered the words, her older version already responded.

"Gotcha!" She exclaimed, surprised by her own quick reaction.

"Don't let go!" Wilbur squeaked in panic while he clung with both hands on her hand! All his senses were alarmed, his heart almost jumped out of his chest! He nearly died! That was reason enough to start to panic, right?

Violet then rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure!" she replied dryly. Why did people always say that? 'Don't let go'...

Violet was a super hero. It was their job to save lives.

But then she hesitated ... she was no super hero anymore ... she had lost her powers!

What if she could no longer hold him? If she was too weak? If he slipped and fell? And when he died, then Junior would cease to exist as well!

These thoughts made Violet panic too!

She looked startled upwards, as if there was something that could help them.

But on the platform was only Junior, who was leaning dangerously far over the edge and stretched his hand out for her in despair.

"Give me your hand!" he cried. With these words Violets panic was blown away.

"HAHA!" She snapped annoyed, "Very funny, idiot!"

How was she supposed to give him her hand when she was holding his younger version with one hand, while she frantically clung to the railing with the other one?!

Her younger version completely panicked, tugging at Juniors shirt.

Vi was not really the type of girl who panicked easily. She was accustomed to stressful situations. But now it was not about her life! And this made the whole situation absolutely unbearable! She was almost sick with fear about Wilbur!

His life was in danger, while she was safe here on this platform, and she couldn't do anything to help him! For what did she have super powers, if she couldn't help anyone?!

Suddenly a red laser beam shot close past her head, and hit the railing just below Wilbur's feet and melted it. The severed part plunged down into the depths. The rest of the railing was set in motion so strongly by the force of the shot, so that another screw broke! Now there was nothing left except of the top piece of the railing on which the older Violet clung to! There was nothing that could give them support! Wilbur was dependent on that Violet's older version didn't let him fall!

He couldn't help but look down!

"Slowly it gets quite uncomfortable here!" he cried in panic.

In the same moment the younger Violet jerked around! She expected to see Omicron, but she just stared at four giant metal legs in front of her! She looked up and saw the red laser eye of the robot glaring down at her!

Just in time, she stretched out her arms and generated a force field around herself and the others! The laser beam was reflected!

The robot tried several times to shoot the teenagers, but the rays couldn't penetrate the shimmering purple field!

Then the robot changed its procedure and started to infernally beating the purple sphere with his strong metal legs! But even that had no effect, although the effort was almost too much for Violet! With each stroke she had to increase the intensity of the force field!

The older Wilbur had observed this anxiously, not sure what he should fear more - that this killer robot would kill them or that Parr and his younger version could crash at any moment.

"Good! Good! Very good!" he exclaimed breathlessly, still too shocked to be relieved! "Don't stop! You're doing very well -"

"Shut up and help the others!" Violet snapped back at him irritably. Because of the great effort she could hardly breathe.

Wilbur turned to the others, who still dangled over the abyss. The railing was now hanging only on a single screw, and the vibrations caused by the robot's blows, dissolved it even more! How was he supposed to rescue the two in time? They were simply too far away!

Then he had an idea!

"Try to swing over here! If you are close enough, I grab your wrist and pull you both up!"

The older Violet thought about it for a few seconds. She would rather prefer Medium, Inferno, or any other person came by and rescued them with a better plan!

"I don't like that plan!" she shouted over the roar of the robot.

"Do it!" Junior cried strictly.

"Is that one of these Wilbur-Robinson-plans that can go so fatally wrong?!"

"Now! Do it!" cried the young Wilbur, and began to sway his legs in the direction of platform.

"No! That won't work!" she shrieked.

"Now shut up and do what I say! NOW!" Junior yelled angrily. Violet reluctantly did what was asked of her.

"Yeah! Good! Keep it up!" he cried. Only a few inches closer and he could grab Violet's wrist and pull them up on the platform!

He didn't realize immediately that the blows of the robot had stopped. He only saw that the screw stopped dissolving. But then he suddenly heard a silent, anxious voice.

"Uh-oh ..."

"What?!" he shouted back.

"This thing is adaptive!" the young Violet screamed suddenly!

Wilbur glanced back over his shoulder. And what he saw, took his breath away!

Instead of uselessly flogging on the purple force field, the robot had started to weld the floor with its laser, separating the part on which the teenagers were from the platform! Only a few feet more, and the ground beneath their feet would plunge into the depth!

Wilbur gasped and gave a curse.

"Oh, don't bother helping me! I'll just... hang out here for a while!" complained the older Violet.

Wilbur jerked around again and stretched even further for Violet's hand!

Suddenly the last screw broke and the rest of the railing crashed down into the abyss!

At that very moment Wilbur grabbed Violet's wrist!

"Okay! Gotcha!" he exclaimed in surprise and relief. Then he pulled her and his younger version up on the saving platform. The two collapsed on the floor breathlessly. The younger Violet felt so relieved that Wilbur was okay, that she had to resist the strong desire to glomp and squeeze him! But she didn't dare to let the robot out of sight! The main thing was that Wilbur was fine.

But suddenly they lost the ground under their feet again! The robot had now almost totally isolated the part they were standing on from the platform, it only hung on a few thin metal stripes! And again, the four teenagers slid screaming into the depths!

But suddenly they stopped falling...

Instead of falling, the ground slowly sat up straight again, back to its original position...

The shocked and perplexed teenagers lay on the platform and tried to understand what was happening exactly.

"You can't be alone for even five minutes without getting into trouble!" cried a familiar voice sarcastically.

"Medium!" cried the older Violet relieved. She must have saved them with the power of her mind.

"Very true!" Medium said triumphantly, "Fortunately I was around; otherwise you would be pancakes by now!"

The others looked around to see where her voice came from. Medium floated over them in the black night sky. Through her telekinetic powers, she had prevented that the piece of the platform plunged into the depths. The only question was how long she could hold this concrete piece of several tons ... especially since the robot began to aim at her!

"I really don't want to disturb your little chill out," Medium cried impatiently, "but I can't hold this thing for ever!"

Violet grabbed Wilbur's arm and pulled him up. Their older versions became only now aware of their situation. When they had lost the ground under their feet, the two had clinched! And so they were still lying on the ground: arm in arm, clinging to each other.

When their eyes met, Juniors face became bright red and Violet gave a shocked yelp! They tore off of each other and abruptly struggled on their feet, not daring to look at each other. Together, the four ran into cover, protected by the younger Violet's force field.

Medium landed gently on the loose piece of the platform that she held in the air only with force of her mind.

"Come here, little robot!" she cried then, as if she would call a dog, "Wanna play? Then come here!" she continued emphatically.

The robot stomped towards her, ready to slash her into pieces! His glowing red robot eye sparkled dangerously!

But just as it stepped on the loose piece of the platform, Medium released the telekinetic grip!

The robot fell with the piece of the platform down into the dark blue depth!

Medium looked after the falling robot, floating in the air, rubbing her hands satisfied. Then she disappeared in a flash of light!

The four teenagers finally had an opportunity to take a breath. But the respite was only short-lived! Because from the next corner these obnoxious robot guards already stormed towards them!

"Oh man," groaned the older Wilbur, "If I survive this day, I'll celebrate my birthday twice a year!"

Reluctantly, they got up and fled in the direction of the rescue capsules, when suddenly a blinding bright light shot high above their heads!

It was the younger Wilbur, who recognized the importance of this first.

"That was the laser gun!"

* * *

Lightning felt a shiver ran down his spine when he saw the four teenagers fell from the platform, while it was flying the curve (he couldn't know that the four were clinging to the railing).

"What a shame..." he quietly said to himself, he really became a bit sentimental when he had to admit that the world now had one fantastic super less and that he also would miss Violet Parr somehow.

Then the boy, whose real name was actually Bobby Richards, shrugged and went; the work was done. Invisigirl was dead.

He should have been satisfied, but the fact that Cobra had the time machine, gave him a strange feeling. But he decided to not to worry about it. The money had already been transferred to his account. That was all that counted.

All that remained to do was to book a flight to a little Caribbean island and to leave the country as soon as possible.

Suddenly he noticed Omicron and Delta going into the command center.

What were these freaks doing? There was nothing left to do... it was done.

He had never understood those clones. Did they have a consciousness at all? Who knew what was going on in their heads...?

Still, he wondered what they were doing and followed them. A few minutes more or less wouldn't make a difference. When he entered the command center, Sigma and Omega were already there. Omicron was operating one of the consoles. The others stood with emotionless faces around him.

Lighting's gaze fell on the Delta. She actually was a very pretty girl... Very pale, but the blond hair and bright eyes evened that. But when it came to their personal qualities... well, every plant had more of this than these creatures.

"What are you doing now?" Bobby began, "Your master is gone, Invisigirl is dead ... The mission is over, right?"

When he got no response, he remembered that you couldn't ask complex questions to the clones... or general questions... or talk to them at all...

Then he realized why the cones were still busy.

A screen was showing Violet, Robinson and the two time travelers. They weren't dead, how he believed, but were just about to climb back on the platform.

He groaned annoyed. So he would still have to work until his contract was fulfilled. But what were the clones doing here in the command center, instead of being down there, firing Invisigirl up?

Suddenly he felt a deep inner unease when he saw how Omicron operated the console.

Everything started to treble, when in the room below them the floor opened and released the giant laser gun!

_"Kill Invisigirl; at any cost!"_ Cobra had hammered into them...

Now Bobby felt even deeper unease, when it became clear to him that the clones took this command literally!

_At any cost..._

That was crazy! The clones wouldn't seriously use this thing, would they!?

After the gun was in position, Omicron suddenly pressed a button - before Bobby could stop him. Then the gun fired an intense, green glowing laser beam into the sky!

Bobby couldn't do anything but watch.

"Oh no ...." he moaned. The clones ignored his behavior completely. They were only fixed on their mission. A terrible certainty came to his mind and he knew what he had to do.

He had to find Invisigirl!

* * *

Meanwhile, Inferno was still busy trying to keep the robot guards at bay. The clones and giant robots were all gone by now; Inferno had no idea where they were! She was stuck here, because these pesky robots, which suddenly appeared from nowhere, just didn't seem to become less! Besides of the giant number of robots, they also were equipped with ice beam weapons!

Although Inferno was resistant to gunfire and injuries, she still was very weak against ice. It caused an acute, stabbing pain! Now that she was continuously hit by the ice beams, the constant fighting slowly became too strenuous for her alone...

She had thrown back at least 15 or 20 of these robots with a blast, when twice as many came from behind and attacked her! At that moment, Medium appeared with a bright flash! She landed next to Inferno and stretched out her hand. The robots began to float, and with a slight movement of her hand she swept all of them off the platform!

Inferno turned to her sister.

"That really wasn't necessary! I could have handled this very well on my own!" she said, pretending to be offended.

"Oh, of course..." Medium replied sarcastically, "I only wanted to shorten this a little!"

Suddenly the ground trembled! Inferno believed that the platform would crash, but after a few seconds, she noticed that the floor divided into two halves. The two parts slid aside, a menacing green light glowed from the inside! Then slowly, but inexorably, the giant ray gun rose from the inside! In the middle of it was a fist-sized, bright shining crystal!

"They'll open fire!" Inferno cried shocked. She had no idea what to do! How could she stop this thing before it destroyed any major city! But then, suddenly, Medium put a soothing hand on her shoulder.

_"They won't..."_ said Medium, the vision made her eyes glow white again.

A white-green laser beam was suddenly fired and divided the sky like a flash! The ground trembled when the energy discharged! Although they were far away, they still felt the heat of the laser.

"They form a thunderstorm!" said Medium suddenly, and pointed in the direction where the laser beam had fired.

"What?"

But before Medium could respond to her rather confused sister, a huge thunderstorm began to develop, not far away from the platform! The clouds were growing incredibly fast, they circulated like a hurricane! Green bolts flashed inside, and illuminated the grey-black clouds with a toxic green light! Within a short time, it became very uncomfortable on the platform! The wind became strong and began to whip windrows of rain over platform. The two young heroes became totally soaked!

"If the platform flies into the clouds and gets struck by a bolt, everything here will blow up!" cried Medium over the roar of the wind.

"Doesn't the crystal suck the energy from the bolt?" Inferno asked confused.

"Umm... No!" Medium cried back determinedly. Her vision had left no doubt about that fact!


	39. Chapter 38

Thunder rumbled menacingly close, while the four teenagers finally reached the room with the rescue capsules. It was raining heavily and they were all soaked. From the15 capsules there were only two left. Cobra's guards must have fled with the other ones...

"Okay! Hurry! We take one of the capsules and-" Junior began.

"Violet!" a male voice suddenly interrupted. The older Violet recognized it immediately and cursed. The guy was the last thing they needed right now!

Lightning landed in some distance, cutting off their way to the rescue capsules. He immediately walked towards the scared teenagers. His movements were hastily; he seemed to be nervous.

_He probably can't wait to kill you! _Violet thought bitterly. Why should Lightning let out the opportunity to kill her as long as she couldn't defend herself?

Junior suddenly positioned himself right in front of her, shielding her with his body. If the situation wouldn't have been so dangerous, Violet would have given a yearning sigh...

Her younger version prepared instinctively to protect them all with a force field. But then she remembered that this hadn't worked earlier. The electricity would simply flow through the ground and reach them through the force field.

She had to think of something else to put a stop to his game, but what...?

She looked helplessly around, until her gaze met Wilbur's. He returned her anxious look and shrugged helplessly.

But against their expectations Lightning did not attack.

"The clones have gone mad!" he shouted as he walked over to them, "They would kill millions of innocent people, if they only get you!" he exclaimed upset.

The older Violet knew Bobby well enough to know when he wasn't lying. She was convinced that it wasn't a trick. It was obvious that he was scared.

"What are you talking about?" She asked alarmed, pushing Junior aside.

"Their mission is to kill you and they will use every means!" Lightning began, "They have created a thunderstorm with the laser canon and navigate the platform right to the centre of it!"

"So what? The crystal absorbs the energy of the bolts!" the younger Violet cried suspiciously.

"No! The charging is complete! The bolts don't even have to strike the crystal or the weapon itself! It's enough if it hits the platform. The slightest overload would cause an explosion. The complete energy of the crystal would be discharged within seconds. Can you imagine what the consequences would be?!"

"Why should we believe you?" Junior said firmly.

"Quiet in the cheap seats!" Lightning hissed at him. But still he apparently felt the need to justify himself.

"You know, there is hardly anyone in this city who knows more about energy than I do..." he turned to Violet again, "Besides, I'm just a human! My parents live only 200 miles from here! And believe me, if the thing goes up, everything in a radius of 1000 miles will be wiped out!"

An oppressive silence filled the room when they realized the importance of that.

"What can we do about it?" asked the younger Wilbur horrified.

Lightning laid a hand on Violet's shoulder.

"You can use your force field to generate a Faraday cage around the platform! That would save us!"

"Fara-what?" Violet asked, confused.

"Yeah! This is great!" the older Wilbur said suddenly, "This would protect the platform from the bolts!"

"I don't know, what are you talking about" Violet interrupted uneasily, "but you seem to forget that I have lost my powers...! No force fields!!!" she cried, waving her arms.

Lightning looked shocked at her. How could he have forgotten about that?!

"But YOU still have your powers!" said Junior, pointing to Violet's younger version.

"What? Me?!" cried the younger Violet horrified. It wasn't a particularly pleasant feeling to be their only hope right now. She backed away a few steps.

"That won't work!" she cried defensively. Junior, Lightning, and even Wilbur from her time wanted say something, but she was faster.

"With increasing size, the structure of the force field loses its integrity!" she cried suddenly, wondering herself, where this did come from all of a sudden. Vi used the other's confusion to continue.

"The larger the force field, the weaker it is!" she explained, "A field of that size wouldn't even shield the wind, let alone a bolt!"

The others looked at each other disappointed. No one had something to add.

Lightning felt fear rising. Fear and aggression. Now there was no way to stop the clones!

"Stupid child!" he mumbled angrily.

Thereupon the older Violet slapped him on the back of his head.

"Watch it!" she hissed.

"You watch it!" Lighting suddenly burst out, "Since you are useless, there is no reason to let you live!" he shouted angrily, bolts twitching around his fists! He had to put the blame for this fatal situation on someone! So all his aggression directed against Violet. Everything was her fault!

Violet stepped back, stumbling.

Then Junior suddenly intervened.

"Wait a second..." he said soothingly. Now Violet panicked, because Lighting looked as if he wanted to tear off Wilbur's head. Wilbur leaned forward, as for a confidential conversation.

"Listen... I also don't want to die today," Wilbur began, almost whispering, "You say, the clones have only one target, and that is to kill her..." he continued, pointing to Violet.

"I think I get what you mean..." Lightning said and gave Violet a disdainful gaze, "That might work!"

"What do you mean?" the younger Wilbur cried, fearing the worst.

"What might work?" The younger cried Violet, almost panicked. Her older version couldn't

believe what was happening.

"Well, if the clones succeed their plan to kill you, they may stop this madness. Perhaps they even stop the cannon!" Junior said in a strange tone. Violets brain was paralyzed, she didn't understand... she didn't want to...

Junior came up to her, casually put a hand on her shoulder and led her away from their past versions (so they wouldn't get an electric shock too).

"You're a hero..." Junior began calmly, "Regard it as a heroic sacrifice. By you countless lives will be saved!"

Violet was still too shocked to say anything. She was irritated; by his touch, by everything that had happened today, about her feelings, or rather by what she had imagined to feel... And now he sacrificed her just like that? Made her the sacrificial lamb?

She didn't really notice that their younger versions protested excitedly.

"You can't do that! There must be another solution!" they cried.

But Violet didn't hear them. She was too shocked; too disappointed that she had been so wrong about him...

"You're not serious ..." she finally asked, her voice silent and hoarse.

"Do I look like I'm kidding you...?" he replied, his expression was serious. Then he patted her shoulder and went over to Lighting.

"And you are sure that this will work?" Junior asked, approaching him.

"It's worth a try!" Lighting said with a resolute expression. The bolts began to twitch around his fists again.

"Fine!" Junior said satisfied, folded his arms and stood beside him.

He sure felt a little sorry for Violet. She stared at him incredulously, totally stunned.

Lighting swung for a blow, but before he could shoot a flash, he was suddenly elbowed right into the face! He staggered back, and before he had recovered to defend, he was hit by another blow. Unconsciously he fell to the ground.

"That was too easy!" Junior laughed triumphantly.

"Oh man!" cried his younger self relieved, "For one moment I thought you would be serious!"

"We have to stop the clones!" Violet said, when she saw that the platform was about to fly into the storm cloud.

"Alright! You both get you gone with one of the capsules. Me and -" Junior started.

"You lousy, mean jerk! I hate you!!" a hysterical voice shrieked suddenly.

"Hey, calm down. Can't you take a joke, sweetie?" Junior replied sarcastically. That was probably the revenge from earlier, when Violet had let him believe that she would shoot him.

"Don't call me sweetie, you nasty, stupid-!!!!"

Suddenly there was an explosion! The younger Violet managed to protect them with a force field just in time! The third, last remaining giant robot was suddenly standing menacingly above them! Then they heard a scream! It was the older Violet!

The force field hadn't protected her, because she had been standing too far away. And now the robot had grabbed her with one of its huge metal claws and raised her up many feet in the air!

Junior cursed.

"Change of plan!" he cried hounded, turning to the time travelers, "You care about the clones, and I - um - I take care of this problem!"

"What?!" the younger Violet cried horrified. But before she could disagree, Wilbur took her hand and ran with her to the command center.

Concerned, Junior looked after them. Then he began to consider how he could free Parr from the clutches of this robot.

When the robot had appeared, he had destroyed a wall, so the floor was full of debris. Wilbur had an idea.

Meanwhile, Violet tried to stay conscious. The robot had suddenly packed her around the chest and had pulled her up. She couldn't move her arms, her legs dangling in the air. The robot increased the pressure more and more, so that Violet couldn't breathe! The joints of the robot squeaked and creaked, when he increased the pressure.

Any more and her bones would break!

And she could do nothing about it... all the focused on was to stay awake.

_Getting crushed... what a stupid way to die_. She thought cynically.

Suddenly, a piece of debris shot past her and crashed with a bang in the red glowing eye of the robot! That was definitely the shot of a quarterback!

Glass shattered and sparks drizzled around! The robot was blind!

Confused, the giant metal creature reared, stomping disoriented through the room, looking for hold!

Violet suddenly felt like on a roller coaster ride! At least she no longer had the feeling that of robot crushing her.

"Vi! Are you okay?" She suddenly heard Junior's voice below her.

Violet felt an unbelievable relief. Wilbur! He would save her!

She gasped for air, trying desperately to escape from the firm grip of the robot's claw.

Wilbur held his breath too when he saw that this stupid tin can had nothing better to do than to run right towards an abyss!

Desperately, he looked around. Then he had an idea!

A short distance from the robot hung a balustrade, on the height of its head. When Wilbur could detach it somehow, the blind robot would trip over it before it reached the abyss. Then he had the opportunity to save Parr!

But how should he manage that before it was too late?

He whirled around. A few feet away Lightning was still lying unconsciously on the floor!

Junior ran up to him and shook him to wake him up. But Lightning didn't respond.

Wilbur turned around breathlessly. The robot still staggered around blindly! Soon he would reach the abyss!

He turned back to Lightning.

"Wake up!" he cried, and slapped him, causing Lightning to loose his mask. "Uh... Bobby?!" Wilbur realized in horror. Now he had two classmates who had super powers? Bobby squirmed when he came round.

"Wilbur ...? What the hell is going on? Where -" he stopped when he realized where he was ... and that Wilbur had recognized him! When he realized that his mask was no longer there, he wanted to jump up startled, but Wilbur grabbed him roughly by the collar and dragged him to his feet.

"Shoot at the balustrade up there!" Wilbur said, pointing to the spot he meant.

"What? Why?" Bobby asked confused. He hadn't fully recovered yet.

"Because I'll kill you slowly and painfully, if you don't!" Wilbur cried impatiently and gave Bobby a rough push. Bobby did as he was told. He stretched out his arms and shot bright, flickering flashes. With an explosion, the flashes hit one side of the balustrade. One half broke away and now hung diagonally down.

The robot couldn't see the barrier and trudged right towards it -

Wilbur held his breath! The robot stumbled over the balustrade and fell on the ground. It's huge, round body crashed violently on the ground, so that the entire platform was shaking. Wilbur ran immediately towards it to help Violet.

Hydraulic hissing was heard, steam burst out some openings of the robot, when it turned off its functions one after another. The claw that clutched Violet opened and let her go suddenly. Unfortunately she still was many feet above the ground!

Wilbur did the only thing he could. He tried to catch her! And succeeded really well! However, when he caught her he didn't manage to keep balance and fell to the ground too. So he sat on the floor, Violet more or less on his lap.

Violet's face, however, was covered by her hair, so she didn't see him and therefore had nothing better to do than to lash about.

"Aaaah! Let me go!!!" she shrieked.

"Vi! Vi! It's just me-" Wilbur said in an attempt to calm her, but he was interrupted by a powerful blow to the face. He then pushed Violet down roughly, holding his nose.

Only now she wiped the hair from her face. She pretended to be surprised when she saw him.

"Oh, I'm so not sorry!" she said sarcastically, obviously still angry about what happened earlier. Wilbur couldn't believe it! If he hadn't just saved her, she would be seriously injured or even dead right now!

"Man, are you resentful!" he said offended.

"Man, are you stupid!" she countered, also in a bad mood.

Then they both suddenly realized with resignation, that they were right at the beginning again...

"Now stop blabbering! We have to stop the clones!" Lightning cried suddenly.

They got up and ran together to the command centre.


	40. Chapter 39

The platform was flying with constant speed deeper into the storm cloud. The bolts flashed already quite close, and the wind was blowing wildly from all directions. The two time travelers were drenched, the wet hair was sticking in their faces. The floor was flooded, water poured down from everywhere.

The two finally reached the command center. However, the entire corridor was under heavy fire. Countless robots fired at the entrance. Inferno and the Medium did their best to stop the robots and the two female clones Sigma and Delta.

Violet generated a force field to protect Wilbur and herself from the shots. So they approached the entrance of the command center, when Medium noticed them.

"Inferno! Look who s back!" she called over to her burning sister. Inferno spun around.

"Weren't you supposed to leave?!" she exclaimed angrily. Then suddenly she was hit by several shots! They regenerated quickly and shot a fireball at one of the robots, which exploded at once. But it was immediately replaced by two new robots. Inferno grumbled annoyed.

"Robinson! You help Medium! Vi, I need you here!" she cried decisively.

The two did as they were told. While Wilbur was running with Medium into the command center, Violet assisted Inferno. But soon she had to face the fact that she couldn't really do a lot. She kept up the force field, but besides that she was really just standing around. She hated that her powers were merely defensive and that they weren't really useful for attacking. She would have liked to support Inferno more actively, but right now she couldn't do more than to protect the entrance to the command center, while Inferno did all the work on her own, fighting the robots and holding Sigma and Delta at bay.

Meanwhile, Wilbur and Medium started to consider how they could prevent the platform from flying deeper into the storm. Medium held her hand over the buttons, however, without pressing them.

"Can't you foresee what buttons you have to press?" Wilbur asked sarcastically.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" she hissed back. It was exhausting, she had to get a vision for each button, for each lever and switch to check what would happen if they operated it. But with the large number of buttons, this would take forever!

"We have to stop!" Wilbur cried determined, and reached for a large lever on which stood the words 'braking units'. But Medium grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away before he could even touch the lever.

"No! The breaking distance is too long! We would stop in the center of the storm!" she cried.

"Then we must turn!"

"The turning radius of this thing is too huge! We still would fly right through the cloud!"

Wilbur was annoyed, that she ruined all his ideas. How should they find a solution this way?

Then he had another idea.

"Then we must increase the speed so much that we pass the storm as fast as possible!"

Medium thought about this possibility.

"This... could work..." She began quietly, but then she shook her head as if she would have had a nightmare, "No! We would be hit by a bolt anyway...!"

Wilbur was at a loss, he had no more ideas... his heart started to pound with panic. Right now, when it was really important, he failed! He had no idea what to do...! There was simply no way out...

Medium noticed his fear.

"Hey, listen. I still don't know how, but I m absolutely sure that everything will turn out fine ..." she said with deep conviction, "Don t be afraid."

"I'm not afraid!" he defended, blushing, turning to Violet. But she was turning her back to them, too far away to hear them. Medium raised an eyebrow and looked at him knowingly.

"Sure I m afraid!" he said suddenly, "But recently I was so busy with running for my life that I didn't really have the time to deal with that more intensely!"

Finally, the question was not whether they would die, but when and how... Would Cobra destroy them, or would they get struck by a bolt and blown up first?

Explosion or erasement of the own existence ... Wilbur couldn't decide how he rather wanted to die...

* * *

Cobra was absolutely confident of victory. He was still a little jazzed from the fight with Invisigirl, aka Violet Parr. Why had she attacked him at all? She had lost her powers! She was supposed to be dead! These pathetic clones really were good for nothing...

If he had only managed this shot! Then he would have satisfied his thirst for revenge himself. He had lost his hostage, but that was no longer relevant.

He had the time machine, which was all that mattered. And now he would make some necessary corrections.

But when the bluish plasma bubble around the time machine disappeared, he was negatively surprised. The time machine didn't show up above an orphanage a few decades in the past like planned, but in the middle of the night on the square in front of Robinson Industries in Todayland.

Cobra sensed something bad and tried to start the time machine again ... but it didn't work!

Only now he realized that he had been tricked ... Robinson, this damn genius, had outsmarted him! A deep uneasiness overcame him. He quickly tried to maneuver the time machine away, but suddenly nets were thrown from below and pulled the time machine to the ground.

Cobra jumped out of the time machine and tried to escape, but he had no chance to come through the crowd of the people. He drew his weapon, some people backed away in fright, but he was grabbed roughly from behind and got pushed to the ground, before he could fire a shot.

Someone pushed a knee on his back, while his face was pressed on the hard concrete floor. His arms were pulled behind his back and he got handcuffed.

He didn't defend... He was neither angry nor upset ...

All he felt was resignation. He had to admit this defeat, if he wanted or not. He had lost this match and he had to accept it ... Robinson was simply smarter than him.

For Invisigirl, however, he felt deep hatred. Hadn't she intervened that fateful night in the past, his plan would have worked from the beginning on. His whole life would have been different! But now all his plans, all the work and all the years in prison had been for nothing ...

Then he was dragged on his feet by the policemen and was taken away ...

This was the final end of a third-class villain, who had never reached his goals...

Meanwhile Franny and Cornelius, who was carrying Wilma, observed all this from afar. Cornelius felt relief and somewhat like pride. Nobody took on with him and his family and got away with this!

Suddenly he felt that Franny tensed like a cat, ready to attack. He touched her shoulder soothingly. Thereupon Franny seemed to explode!

"I gonna kill this guy! This mean, stupid - Argh!" she cried, beside herself with rage, " I wanna strangle him! "

"Shh, calm down honey..." Cornelius tried to sooth her. He wanted to avoid that Franny got a tantrum in front of their little daughter.

Then he looked with unease at the sky, where an ominous thunderstorm was approaching. The buildings of the city loomed as black shadows in front of the greenish black storm, that lit up threateningly from the inside over and over again.

* * *

Led by Bobby, the older Wilbur and Violet also ran to the command center. The storm was getting worse! The wind tugged at her wet clothes and the bolts now flashed more often in immediate vicinity to the platform.

Suddenly, without warning, Bobby jumped into the air and flew away. He floated above the platform and all of a sudden was hit by a bolt! The bang was almost deafening!

Wilbur stopped shocked, grabbing Violet s arm.

"What s he doing?" he cried, when he realized that Bobby was unharmed and the bolt hadn't reached the platform either.

"He catches the bolts so they don t hit the platform!" Violet answered over the roar of the storm. While she spoke, Bobby managed to catch another bolt. "But he can't do this forever! We have to hurry!" Vi cried and pulled Wilbur along the corridor. Wilbur followed her, but he wondered what was making the difference if they hurried or not. How were they supposed to change something about their current situation?

Suddenly he was pushed roughly to the side! He fell painfully to the ground. He wanted to shout at Vi, but suddenly shots rushed by, hitting the wall behind him! He crawled into cover, and then he jerked around. Violet was hiding on the other side of the corridor. She had pushed him aside and so had saved him from the shots!

Through the corridor approached Omicron and Omega.

The two clones didn't care for Wilbur. They were fixed on Violet and when she ran away, they chased right after her!

Violet ran through the ankle deep water along the corridors, hoping to outdistance the two in the chaos of the storm. But then she only ended up on the edge of the platform! The railing was missing. She realized that she was at the place where they had been attacked by the giant robot. There was no way out!

Annoyed she gritted her teeth... everything had to go wrong today.

She staggered for a moment when she was gripped by a gust of wind.

Suddenly Vi felt how an intense heat shot right through the middle of her body! She lost her balance and fell over the edge of the platform! Omicron's laser had hit her! To her it seemed as if she fell for an eternity before she crashed with full force through a metal grid on a lower floor of the platform.

Motionless she lay backwards on the broken grid...

* * *

**Please review. I'm not content with the latest chapters and i wanna know if you feel the same.**

**Beta reading by Musicwritesmylife from devart.**


	41. Chapter 40

Wilbur wanted to follow Violet immediately. He had to help her before it was too late! This woman had a unique talent of getting into trouble. He was running along the same corridor, when Bobby landed behind him suddenly and roughly grabbed his shoulder. Wilbur turned around, startled.

"I'll help her, you help the others!" he said strictly, and eyed Wilbur with a stern gaze. Wilbur didn't know whether he could ever get used to the fact that Bobby was a super, and he didn't really had the feeling that he could trust him.

But before he had the opportunity to reply, Bobby was already gone. Wilbur hesitated a moment and looked after him, indecisive, ready to follow him. But what could he do to help Vi? Bobby could fly and shoot these weird lightning things... He could actually do something against these super clones in contrast to Wilbur...

With a heavy heart he turned around and ran through the next corridor.

Meanwhile, Bobby was flying outside through the rain along the platform. Suddenly he discovered the clones Omega and Omicron. Violet stood very unfavorably on the edge of the platform; and Omicron was aiming at her! He suddenly fired his bright laser exactly in Violet's direction!

Bobby couldn't see what happened next. But suddenly Violet was gone!

Bobby was shocked; he had completely lost sight of her... She had to be on one of the lower levels.

He hastened after her, his heart pounding faster in excitement. He discovered a ruined grid on the bottom level of the platform. But where was Violet? Did she fall over the edge of the platform? The water on the lowest level was pretty high... Perhaps she was under water! Frantically he began to wade through knee-deep water, calling her name.

* * *

Breathing... just breathing... that was the only thing she focused on. She knew from past fights that you didn't feel the pain of serious injuries immediately. She just hoped that Wilbur and the two time travelers were okay. They had to go back in time to avoid all this...

She feared she had been seriously wounded, yet she still wasn't feeling any pain. She only felt how the rain was beating incessantly on her face and chest. Her arms and legs were underwater, just like her back. Then she suddenly heard a muffled voice. It seemed to come from far away, but still Violet had the feeling that it was pretty close. She needed a moment to realize that her ears were underwater too. With some effort she lifted her head. Now she could hear the voice very clearly; it was calling for her. Her heart skipped from joy, but then she realized that it was just Bobby who was calling her...

"Better than nothing..." she thought.

She opened her eyes and looked around, blinking in surprise when she realized that Bobby was standing right next to her. Why was he still calling her? Did he think she was still unconscious? But then he wouldn't turn his back to her, right?

"I'm awake..." she said in a croaking voice. She had hardly spoken these words when Bobby suddenly made a startled jump aside. He spun around, whirling up a lot of water, which splashed into Violet's face. She coughed.

"Damn it! Vi! Where are you?" He cried hastily, in shock.

"Are you blind? I'm right here! Right next to you!" she cried annoyed and gave him a kick. He turned around and stared at her startled.

"Oh my God, Violet!" he cried incredulously.

"Does it look so bad...?" she asked, frustrated. Only now she looked down at herself - and suddenly her red dress popped up in front of her eyes! But she could have sworn that it hadn't been there only an instant ago -

"What the -?"

"You were invisible!" Bobby said with a dry laugh.

"Oh! Really!" she said sarcastically, as if she hadn't noticed that herself, "But... I lost my powers…" she said incredulously, cautiously rising while Bobby took her arm, helping her up.

"Well, apparently you didn't ..." he said, grinning mischievously. When she sat upright, Violet clenched her fists, trying to become invisible again... but it didn't work! She mobilized all her power resources, until little beads of sweat formed on her wet face, but there was simply no way to activate her super powers! She tried it again and again, but it didn't work ...

"Why doesn't it work?" She cried, frustrated, almost in despair.

"Who cares? We have to get out of here!" Bobby said, and grabbed her arm forcefully. Violet waded a few steps behind him, but then she shook off his grip.

"Wait a sec...!" she began hesitantly, while she surveyed her body. Only now it occurred to her, "I'm not hurt..."

"That's great. I had feared I would need to carry you..." Bobby began, slightly sarcastic. Then he took her hand and pulled her towards a staircase, "Now come on!"

"I don't have a single scratch!" Violet mumbled stunned in disbelief while they ran upstairs.

She looked up, surprised. She had fallen about 50 feet, crashed through a metal grille and on the ground; no one would have survived this fall! But she wasn't even slightly injured!

"That was probably just dum luck, sweetie..." Bobby stopped, squeezing her hand, an expression of melancholy in his eyes. Violet was surprised by this unexpected reaction of tenderness. A few memories crossed her mind while they were standing like this.

"You only came to save me?"

This seemed to embarrass him.

"Hey, just because we don't fight on the same side anymore, doesn't mean that we must be enemies..." he mumbled with slightly blushing cheeks.

"Ah, I see..." Violet said, and returned the pressure of his hand. But then her tone became sarcastic. "May I remind you that you were about to kill me a few minutes ago?"

Bobby wanted to reply something, but suddenly they heard the noise of approaching metal steps! A group of robots suddenly came around the corner, right towards them...

... and passed them, without noticing!

First Violet thought that the robots hadn't attacked because Bobby was working for their master Cobra, but when she wanted to look at him for giving him some mean comment, he was gone! She couldn't see him! Suddenly, Bobby released her hand. Once they were no longer touching, he became visible again. He stared for a moment, half shocked, half surprised in her direction; and then he started laughing.

"You totally lost your powers!" he cried ironically.

Violet looked down at herself ... and saw nothing! Not only her, but also her dress invisible! Out of a reflex she wanted to look at her hand, but she couldn't – she was completely invisible! All that remained visible was the water on her skin and her dress, but only if you looked very closely!

It was so easy! She didn't need any effort to activate her powers. Now that she knew how to do it, she wondered why she hadn't discovered that before. When she had tried to use her powers before, all the effort had been useless; it was as if she had desperately pulled on a door, although it could be simply opened with a slight pressure. Now it was easy, much easier than ever before in her life!

Violet gasped for air with realization. Suddenly, everything made sense. It seemed the machine didn't suck off her forces, but had changed them somehow. Suddenly she understood how she was able to survive the explosion in the cylinder, the elevator crash and the attack of the giant robot. She became visible again, beaming with joy.

"You can get excited about this later!" Bobby said, taking her hand again, "Now we have to stop this platform!"

Then he ran with her along the next corridor.

* * *

The younger Violet still held the robots at bay, together with Inferno. Like loud thunder the shots crackled incessantly on her force field, the shield flickered purple every time it was hit. Meanwhile Inferno destroyed one robot after another, but they didn't seem to become less. In addition, Delta constantly attacked them with her ice beams. The whole room smelled burned and was filled with steam. Violet's fingers felt numb and cold.

She had trouble to keep the intensity of the force field. Slowly, the effort exhausted her. Suddenly she noticed that someone was approaching them from behind; it was Wilbur's older version. She stopped short when she realized that he was all alone.

"Where is my older self?" she cried worried, over the noise of the shots, assuming the worst. When Inferno heard her, she turned around startled.

"What happened?" She cried concerned, turning her back to the robots as if she had forgotten them all of a sudden. For a brief moment the older Wilbur looked at her startled, but then he drooped as if he felt guilty. He avoided her gaze when he went into the command center to Medium and his younger version without a word. When the younger Wilbur saw his older version's battered face, he gasped frightened.

"Where's Violet?" Inferno called after him angrily.

"She is -" began Wilbur's older self, but was interrupted by Medium.

"She's doing great! The electric-guy cares for her!" Medium cried impatiently and irritated. Inferno and the two time travelers breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why didn't you say that immediately? Man, you scared me!" Inferno called in the direction of Wilbur's older self, punching his shoulder, and then went back out to fight the robots.

"She's doing well?" the older Wilbur asked Medium, surprised and relieved.

"Ya, ya, ya!" Medium waved irritably, "But not for long if we don't change the course of this thing!"

The situation seemed hopeless. But while his younger version quickly explained that they could neither change the course in time, nor stop or even fly through the storm without being hit by a bolt, Wilbur had an idea... perhaps the last remaining chance.

"Can't you increase the speed of the platform with your telekinetic powers? In addition to the power of the jet engines we should be fast enough!" he said hastily, wildly gesticulating. Medium looked at him with big eyes. She had never moved an object of this size in her life. She doubted that any medium had ever managed that.

She was about to disagree when she suddenly had a vision!

"Down!"

Just then a powerful laser beam shot through the command center and destroyed the walls and the consoles! Sparks and glowing yellow metal splashed around! Fortunately, they had ducked just in time and remained unhurt.

"Oh fantastic!" the younger Wilbur cried ironically when he saw the destruction, then Medium pushed him and his older version to the exit; outside Violet and Inferno still fought against the robots. A deafening noise filled the corridors. Even before they had left the command center, Omega shot ahead through the wall behind them and pounced on them!

Medium, who stood right next to Omega, teleported herself away right in time before he could reach her! The younger Wilbur responded immediately. He jerked around and slammed the heavy metal door right in Omega's face. But Omega simply walked through the door without being slowed down by it. He stared at Wilbur and glared at him darkly. When he appeared on the floor, the robots stopped to fire all of a sudden.

"Oh right, I forgot about that!" Wilbur squeaked through his clenched teeth. He had acted instinctively, and so forgot that Omega could easily walk through walls.

Omega then rushed at Wilbur, when suddenly a ball of fire shot through the air and hit him head-on! Inferno had fired at him. He stumbled back and fell, but struggled up again. Also, the robots began to open fire again, if this wouldn't have been enough, Omikron also appeared suddenly, his eyes flashing dangerously red! And on the other side Sigma Delta were also approaching the five teens. All in all it became very uncomfortable in the narrow corridor.

Now our heroes had to quickly take to their heels.

"Come on! This way!" Inferno cried.

Together they ran into the dark, narrow corridor, behind them the noise of countless metal legs that were hot on their heels, accompanied by red laser shots that shot over their heads and hit the walls with loud cracks. Only Violets force field protected them from the shots.

Inferno ran forward, her hand burning like a torch, so that she could lead the way to the others. They reached a staircase, and ran up. Violet felt that she was slowly becoming completely exhausted. The effort of the day had taken its toll. She felt hot suddenly, her hands tingled. Then a numb feeling began to spread from her chest throughout her body. She could hardly breathe; her knees gave in at once... She could no longer keep pace with the others and fell back.

"Violet!" the younger Wilbur cried when he saw that she was no longer behind him. Violet was kneeling a few steps below him, holding on the railing with both hands. She trembled.

"Are you hurt?" He gasped in panic, jumping down the stairs without hesitation, taking them three at a time. Violet was breathing hard, she could hardly speak. Wilbur then put her arm around his shoulder and tried to pull her up the stairs.

"I can't run any longer..." Violet gasped quietly. In that moment her force field began to flicker and finally gave in.

Unfortunately, in this very moment, the robots arrived at the bottom of the stairs. Though Inferno had the hope that the staircase was too narrow for the mass of robots, so not all of them would be able to follow, she now was proven wrong. The robots were not dependent on the stairs. They crooked their arms and legs, stretched them vertically away from their bodies, and began to climb up the staircase railings, like spiders! And they were fast!

Wilbur wouldn't have even noticed it if he hadn't looked down randomly.

Numerous robotic spiders were crawling vertically on the scaffold of the staircase to the top. They were hot on their heels!

"Inferno!" exclaimed Wilbur in panic. Now Violet turned around too. When she saw all those robots, she squeaked in shock and, all of a sudden, could run on her own again.

The robots were so close that they were about to grab for their feet. Suddenly, a bright fireball shot from above past the two young teenagers and ripped most robots off into the abyss! Unfortunately Inferno destroyed with this shot not only the robots, but also a remarkably huge part of the staircase construction.

"Oops..." whimpered an embraced Inferno from where she stood, together with the older Wilbur and Medium, one floor above the time travelers. The stairs began to shake violently, it would collapse at any moment! Wilbur and Vi ran up the stairs as fast as they could - they had almost reached the next floor - when they suddenly lost the ground beneath their feet! The older Wilbur grabbed the two just in time on their hands, before the rest of the stairs fell with a loud crash into the depths, pulling the remaining robots down too.

With ease, he pulled up the two teenagers.

The younger Wilbur looked down over his shoulder and swallowed, his feet still dangling above the abyss. At that moment he realized that it still had some advantages, to be a strong quarterback. If his older self hadn't caught them, Vi and him would have crashed together with the robots. The older Wilbur let go the two time travelers, who had to recover their breath first.

"Are you alright?" Inferno asked anxiously.

"Yeah, except that you almost killed us..." gasped Violet irritated, still panting, and gave her niece an angry gaze.

"I'm really sorry ..." Inferno said sheepishly and rubbed her neck uncomfortably, "That was probably a bit badly aimed".

"A bit?" Violet burst out. But Inferno had no opportunity to justify. The sound of crawling metal feet echoed seemingly from all sides through the corridors. The five bent over the rest of the railing. Apparently, Cobra's robots had magnets on their hands and feet, so that they could also climb up the smooth metal walls...

"Great..." the older Wilbur sighed heavily.

"This is getting old!" complained his younger version.

"This way!" cried Medium and chased them along another corridor.

The way ended abruptly in a large hall... in the middle of the storm. Black clouds, illuminated by the ominous yellow exterior lights, seemed to have swallowed the platform. The wind tore at them from all sides and heavy rain was pouring on them. Over and over again bolts flashed through the clouds. They were so close that they heard no thunder, but only a deafening bang, each time a lightning flashed.

Inferno suddenly jerked around and pressed her hands against the door. The door was melting at the edges and welded to the wall. But that wouldn't keep the horde of robots and the clones away for very long. Shortly after Inferno had withdrawn her burning hands, the wall began to tremble! The robots were shooting from the other side against the locked door, some places pieces already broke out of it.

"That won't stop them!" Violet gasped, completely out of breath.

"Oh really?" Inferno cried stroppily. She looked around hastily before flying up to the floor above them and returning shortly afterwards with a ten feet long I-beam, which she could carry almost without any difficulty. No one dared asking her where she had all this strength from so suddenly. The younger Violet could hardly imagine that Flame possessed such great powers. Inferno heated the metal until it glowed orange-yellow, then she pressed and welded the beam against the door, like a door latch.

"So! And now?" Inferno snarled impatiently, "How do we stop this platform now, without the command center?"

The other three turned to Medium.

Medium froze for a moment. Insecure, she stared at the others. She didn't know if and how she should manage to get the platform from its current course. But she forgot all her doubts, when she felt the hope the others pinned on her.

Then she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and opened the hidden door in the back of her mind - her body tensed and slowly, she spread out her arms. The others could see how a white glowing aura formed around her, slowly becoming brighter. The older Wilbur pulled the two time travelers, who watched this eerie spectacle with wide eyes, carefully away from Medium.

Medium was surprised again about how easy it was. There, where her forces had been limited before was now no longer limited... She had far, far underestimated the potential of her powers!

Under the impact of her powers moving the platform, the construction started to deform! Pipes and cables creaked under the pressure of the deformation, girders and beams cracked as they broke! The ground began to burst! Cracks and breaks suddenly moved in zigzag patterns along the floor, while Medium speeded up the platform with the help of her mind's powers. It felt as if they were in a train that was slowly getting faster.

Debris began to crash on the ground around them suddenly. While Medium stood motionless, the others fled to cover and the ground began to shake!

At that moment, Wilbur thought of another way, how they could die today. If the clones and the robots didn't get them, the platform didn't blow up or Cobra didn't wipe out their existence, they would simply crash with this platform!

The clouds now lit up more often from the inside. They could feel the electrical tension on their skin, and the heat that was emitted from the electrical discharge! Nevertheless, everything seemed to go quite well. They could feel how the platform became faster. It seemed like they would manage to leave the storm in time - until suddenly a blinding bright light blinded them all!

A deafening explosion - ...

...then there was silence.

* * *

**Author's Note: Gosh! Finally!**

**I'm very sorry for the long break and I hope you continue reading anyway! Okay, I also thought about leaving the idea of Team Future to the public, as a base, so each of you may continue the story on your own when I finished it. I only want to advice you to really wait until the epilogue is uploaded ;-)**

**Kudos again to animeloveramy for the beta reading! **


	42. Chapter 41

The end.

It was over. Forever.

The wind and the rain had stopped all of a sudden. There was absolute silence ...

Was this death?

Although the explosion had been so powerful - the sound was still ringing in his ears - the pressure wave had been remarkably weak. Actually, there had been none at all. Wilbur had expected something like... pain... or at least a slight pressure.

But nothing happened. Violet and he had clung to each other, when the bolt had hit the platform but now that nothing happened, Wilbur cautiously squinted one eye.

What he saw was more than surprising. It almost seemed as if they were inside an oversized plasma lamp; a gigantic, shimmering blue-violet sphere surrounded the entire platform. The bolts flashed wildly over its surface. The electrical discharge made the surface of the giant sphere even more shining. The bolts crackled loudly and almost seemed to flow over the surface of the sphere. In long swaths the rain ran down the outer wall of the sphere; it almost looked like giant curtains of water.

Was that Violet's force field?

Wilbur looked down at Violet, who pressed against him. She had opened her eyes now too, and observed this huge laser show, totally perplexed. Her blue eyes reflected the purple light of the sphere...When their eyes met, he noticed that he held her in his arms and stared at her. He quickly looked away.

"Vi, whatever your doing, don't stop!" whispered his older self from behind.

"Okay ..." Violet replied hesitantly, "But that's not me... I don't think..." she murmured, her voice barely audible as she pressed even closer to Wilbur imperceptibly. But where did this phenomenon came from?

Realizing that no danger threatened them any longer - at least it seemed like it - Inferno and the older Wilbur stood up slowly.

"What is this?" Inferno asked sceptically.

"Maybe some kind of protection mechanism..." the older Wilbur guessed helplessly.

"The clones would have turned that off..." Inferno replied and frowned thoughtfully. They all could feel that the platform continued to accelerate. Inferno and the older Wilbur changed a quick glance then slowly turned around to Medium.

She stood motionless, her eyes glowed, and a white light surrounded her. Her blond, curly hair was moving slowly in the air, as if it was waving in water. By the sheer force of her thoughts, she accelerated the entire platform. To the electric hiss and crackle of the bolts came the crunching and squeaking of the platform. It was an eerie soundscape but was she also the one who held off the bolts?

More and more bolts flashed on and hit the blue sphere. They were now right in the centre of the storm! They could only hope that the force field wouldn't give in...

Despite the imminent danger, it was an incredible, colourful spectacle that took their breath away.

Gradually, the flashes became less, and the rain vanished. The clouds lifted and suddenly bright stars filled the clear night sky. The purple force field disappeared, and all the water, which had been still on its surface, fell to the ground with a splash.

Behind them the storm clouds still mounted up; bolts flashed inside them. But nothing had happened to them. Against all odds they had survived the storm. The platform didn't explode and now the city was safe again!

Suddenly they heard loud shouting and cheering, then Lightning flew zigzag across the hall and made somersaults in the air. But his voice was not the only one that cheered.

"Am I good or am I brilliant?" said the other voice that sounded very similar older Violet's voice. The others held their breath. Suddenly in the middle of the hall a purple silhouette appeared! And a second later, Violet was visible again. She stood with her back to the others and called up to Lightning. "Thanks for the idea with the Friday-cage!"

"It's called Faraday cage," said Bobby laughing, and landed right next to her.

"Who cares? I saved the city!" Violet shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Violet!" Inferno cried happily, with relief. Violet and Lightning jerked around in surprise.

"There you all are! Are you okay?" she asked relieved, but she was still breathing heavily.

The older Wilbur wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He had no words for the relief he felt. All of a sudden the platform stopped abruptly. There was a huge jerk and they all fell to the ground.

"What was that?" the young Wilbur cried, startled.

"We've stopped ..." his older version realized.

"Did we ram something?" asked the younger Violet horrified.

"Medium!" Inferno suddenly exclaimed, and hurried to her sister. The blonde super heroine lay unconsciously on the floor, her nose was bleeding and she was pale as a sheet! Inferno crouched down beside her and carefully laid Medium's head on her legs. Inferno patted her cheek, but there was no reaction.

"M; talk to me!" Inferno whispered and shook her sister gently. But she still didn't respond...there was a tense silence as the others shared uneasy glances. Had this effort been too much for the young super heroine?

"Medium! Can you hear me?" Inferno cried again fervently, her voice broken.

"Ouch! Yes! I can hear you very well!" Medium cried suddenly without opening her eyes, "Stop yelling at me!"

Inferno hugged sister. The others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oooh, my head ..."

The younger Violet immediately ran to the two super heroines.

"Are you hurt?" She asked anxiously. Medium shook her head.

"But my head feels as if someone had put my brain into the microwave and roasted it! Ouch!" she said and held her aching head with both hands, but she was laughing.

"Okay, you're definitely done for today!" her older sister said with a stern tone, while she and Violet helped Medium to stand up.

"What? But I can still fight! I feel much better already!"

"One minute ago you were still unconscious. You need a break. I don't want you strain yourself!"

"But you won't succeed without me!" Medium protested and put her hands akimbo.

"Wipe the blood from your face first, before you continue to act oh-so heroic." Inferno said calmly, then she turned to the older Violet, who was still sitting on the ground, at the other end of the hall, "And of course we'll do it without you! After all Invisigirl is back now!"

"Woooh yeah! Invisigirl is back!" Medium cried loudly and waved at Violet.

"Woooh ... I'm back ..." Violet replied, slightly unmotivated. It was so quiet that the others barely understood her. Then she leaned both hands on the floor. "I have to lie down... just a few minutes..." she whispered, panting.

Now she felt the consequences that she hadn't eaten all day to look extra slim in her new dress. She felt dizzy and queasy - whether from hunger or the strain, she couldn't tell. Then she felt a sudden heavy tiredness. Lightning, still standing next to her, reached for her, but she pushed his hand aside. She had to lay down a moment and relax, now that the danger was averted. She would have preferred to make herself invisible, lie down and sleep. She couldn't do that of course - that would seem pretty unprofessional - but because she had just saved the city, she deserved to just go home now and sleep the next two days.

"Okay, what now?" asked the young Violet enthusiastically. She was so relieved that they had solved this problem that the robots and clones seemed like an easy thing to her now.

Inferno put her hands akimbo and opened her mouth to say something, but her younger sister was faster once again. Just like at their first meeting her blond head suddenly appeared in front of Violet.

"You can run away!" she squeaked, nodding in the direction of the locked door. The robots were still trying to open it. They could still hear the blows and shots. Then she patted Violet's head.

"Your enthusiasm is so cute!"

Suddenly they heard forceful blows against the locked metal door. They were so violent that the door dented. That was Sigma with her super strength. It wouldn't take long, and their enemies would rush into the hall!

"Well ... I guess it soon will become pretty uncomfortable here" Lightning said and clicked his tongue.

"You help us?" Inferno cried hopefully to the other end of the hall.

"Pff! What are you thinking?" Lightning laughed, arrogant, "I just wanted to prevent this thing from blowing up and I succeeded!" he said smugly grinning, "See ya later, girls!" Then he turned around, jumped up and flew off into the night sky.

"Damned opportunist!" Inferno hissed angrily. The robot and Sigma continued to ram the door open. The sound of the collision of metal on metal filled the hall.

"Okay. Medium you take care of others and ensure that they make it to the rescue capsules! They are on the other side of this hall. Violet -" said Inferno and turned to the older Violet.

"I think that they are able to take care of themselves very well!" Medium interrupted.

"So what? I still want that you tale care of them!" her sister insisted.

"I think this is a stupid idea!" Medium replied defiantly, folding her arms.

"Now don't behave cocky just because your powers are stronger now. I am the leader and I want you to rest and spare your forces!" Inferno said determined and put a hand on her younger sister's shoulder.

"And if I refuse?" Medium asked with pursed lips. Inferno clenched her fists annoyed, then she relaxed again.

"Then - I am very disappointed..." she hissed between her clenched teeth, trying to keep self-control.

"Ooooh, yeah! So that's a good reason?" Medium cried sarcastically. Then she turned and ran with the two time travellers and the older Wilbur to the other end of the hall.

"Vi! Move it!" Inferno cried over to the older Violet, who was still lying on the ground.

But Violet didn't seem to listen. She was lying sideways on the floor in the middle of the hall and was leaning her head on her arms. When Inferno called her, she jerked and suddenly raised her head, as if she had just woken up. A little disoriented, she looked around.

"Me? Why me?" she asked confused.

"How did you get your powers back at all?" Inferno cried, concerned. She considered the possibility that Violet might have had her powers only for a short time.

"I didn't loose them..." Violet said. Then her voice became quieter, she put her head on her arms and closed her eyes, "They've just changed ..." She was about to fall asleep again.

"Oh man..." Inferno sighed irritable and rubbed her eyes, completely unnerved, "Then get up now and fight!" she cried at Violet so that she woke up.

"But -" Violet grouched.

"No!" Inferno interrupted annoyed.

"I've just saved the city!" Violet began wearily, "And I'm hungry! And I'm sick!"

Inferno suddenly turned into a human torch. Without voice, but with clear gestures she commanded Violet stand up and fight.

"Yea, yea, yea ..." Violet murmured listless and irritable.

At that moment, the others ran past her. Although it really wouldn't have been necessary, the older Wilbur stopped to help her up. Somewhere Violet was happy about it until she realized that Wilbur pulled her up a tiny bit too roughly. It was plain to see that he was angry.

"So...You had your powers all the time..." Wilbur stated friendly, though with a piercing glare, as if he had caught her red handed, as if she had kept her powers secret on purpose.

"Ooops..." Violet thought and swallowed. Had she said that aloud? At first she didn't really know what to reply. Sure, she had behaved rather stupidly, but not on purpose!

"Nice to know I risked my life for nothing!" Junior added, with a sarcastic smile. He turned around to follow the others.

What should that mean? 'For nothing'! As if she would have planned that! He sounded almost as if she had intended that this guy would lose his life on one of his rescues attempts! Offended, she gave him a push.

"Hey! If some idiot hadn't put me into this glass chamber, I would have never believed that I lost my powers!" she replied in a shrill voice.

Violet had barely finished, when the robot managed to blow up the door. The door exploded, and the robots flooded into the hall. The clones were back too and in no time the hall was full with robots! Shots, lasers, ice and fire filled the air.

It all happened so fast that the two older versions had no opportunity to get to safety; they stood in the middle of the hall, without any coverage. Behind Violet a couple of red glowing eyes suddenly appeared. Wilbur saw it, grabbed Violet by her wrist and pulled her behind a concrete wall. Omicron's laser missed its target, and caused an explosion at the opposite wall.

"Wilbur," he heard Violet's stern voice suddenly, when the dust died down.

Only then Wilbur realized that he held Violet in his arms. The movement had been so fast that he hadn't even noticed until now. For a moment he was too confused about the fact that she used his real name to respond. But Violet looked at him impatiently, as she expected him to say something. This confused him even more.

"Um ..."

"Yeah?"

But he only managed to give an uncomfortable cough. Violet's voice had an annoyed tone. The whole scene reminded him of a dream he'd had once...

"Junior, you have no reason to save me..." Violet didn't know why she used this formulation and Wilbur, on the other hand, had the strange urge to contradict her.

"Right...bad habit" he replied meekly.

"Could you please let me go now?"

At these words, Wilbur became bright red. The whole time he had leaned with his back against the wall, thereby holding Violet in his arms.

As soon as he let her go, she became invisible and disappeared.

Wilbur didn't dare to breathe because he didn't know whether she still stood before him. Only when he discovered her purple shield between the chaos of robots and clones, he dared to move again.

Violet ran towards a crowd of robots that oppressed Inferno. When she became visible, all electronic eyes turned at her and not a second later, they open fired.

Violet made it in time to enable her force field.

At that moment Omicron suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shot at her with his laser gaze. Violet made herself invisible, but she was a moment too late. The laser touched her hair and burned a few strands before she became invisible! The light of the laser beam had no surface to attack anymore, so the beam just went through her without hurting her!

Shocked, too shocked to get to run away, Violet slowly touched the scorched area. She felt how the invisible charred hair crumbled in her hand.

"You little bastard!" whispered Violet dangerously, with growing anger. Her heart began to bean faster, her senses and her muscles tensed. The only thing that had survived this day halfway unharmed, the only thing that was not torn, shredded or in scars was her hair, but now her left bangs were totally burnt!

"You ruined my hairstyle!" she cried angrily, she hadn't thought she could get any more pissed today than she already was, but now she was about to explode! With an infernal scream she threw herself at her enemies.

Since Omicron couldn't hurt her, there was no reason to run away from him! Violet was invisible, so she gave him a few sharp blows to the face, that hit him completely unexpected. Although Omicron couldn't see her, he tried to continue to shoot Violet with his laser gaze, even when the beams had no effect on her. The only thing that showed Violet's presence were her footprints in the rain water that still covered the entire floor of the hall because when her feet touched the ground, the water was displaced and a hollow with the shape of her footprint formed. Omicron suddenly reached out for a heavy blow. The movement was so unexpected that Violet had no time to duck away. She closed her eyes and waited for the painful blow -

But it didn't come. Instead, she heard a cry of pain from Omicron. When she opened her eyes, he was holding his hand, his face contorted from pain. Violet was still invisible, but a purple silhouette had formed around her... This thing had apparently protected her from the blow...Violet looked puzzled and fascinated at her invisible, yet shimmering purple hand, while the robots re-open fired; but the shots just bounced off of her. She looked around slowly, a smile coming to her face. Except for a slight warmth she felt nothing of the shots. This new force field was really awesome!

But suddenly Sigma appeared directly to it before!

"Uh-oh!"

Violet drew back a few steps, but everything was full of robots and fire. But Sigma was faster. After a few steps she had caught up with Violet, and gave her an incredibly powerful punch!

Meanwhile, the older Wilbur, Medium and the two time travellers ran to the other end of the hall, from where they would come to the rescue capsules. However, they were slow because they had to move from one cover to another. Suddenly Medium stopped and turned around.

The younger Violet turned towards the battle. The whole thing was so chaotic that she was not able to make out Inferno or her older self. Then she turned back to Medium again.

"What are you waiting for?" Violet asked her impatiently, with a smile. A moment later, Medium was gone with a flash of light to support the other Supers.

Suddenly there was an explosion about 50 feet behind them and a lot of dust was raised. The three teens jerked around and saw that there suddenly was a hole in the wall behind. Out of the hole an arm started waving all of a sudden.

"I'm okay!" It was the voice of the older Violet.

The older Wilbur ran back to help her. Sigma's super strength had smashed Violet deep into the wall, but her skin-tight protective shield had protected her from any injuries. However, Violet was now hanging in a hole that was shaped to her body. She was just about to push herself out with her arms when Wilbur spoke.

"Do you need help...?" Wilbur asked hesitantly, though he couldn't really resist a slight smile. He would have never imagined to ever see Violet Parr like that! The Hair dishevelled, the dress completely torn, hanging in a concrete wall...Violet returned his grin, annoyed.

"No!" her tone was stern, "You and the kids should gone by now actually!" she commanded.

Wilbur shrugged and left, but when he heard faint cursing behind him he stopped.

Violet stuck deeper in the concrete as she had thought. She could free the upper part of her body but her legs were stuck in such a way that she couldn't get out. Very slowly, Wilbur approached again. He stopped directly in front of her, trying, unsuccessfully, to hide his wide grin not bothering to ask her again. Violet looked at him, then she sighed resignedly. She drooped annoyed and bashfully then stretched out her arm.

"Excuse me?" Wilbur asked gleefully.

Violet mumbled something unintelligible.

"I can't hear you, you have to speak louder!"

"Help me, please!" Violet hissed, followed by annoyed cursing.

"See? Was that so bad? It didn't hurt you, did it...?" Wilbur grinned.

"Now pull me out of here or I'll hurt you!" Violet began to shout. Wilbur sighed and shook his head, clicking his tongue. Finally, he grabbed her arm with both hands, put one foot against the wall and pulled Violet out.

When she stumbled out of the wall, he caught her and put her on the floor. While she brushed the dust off her dress and preened her hair, Wilbur looked at her expectantly. Violet pretended that she wouldn't notice. Why should she thank this guy? She would have freed herself alone...sooner or later! Besides that, she also just saved the city! He should thank her! But what was it? The wiser man gives in...And compared to Junior, she was definitely wiser. She looked up; Wilbur was still looking at her expectantly. She opened her mouth to really say 'thank you', but then she discovered Omicron behind Wilbur.

"I hear?" Wilbur said smugly. In that moment Omicron shot a laser out of his eyes.

"Watch out!" Violet cried, grabbed Wilbur's shirt and made them both instantly invisible! Omicron laser went smoothly through their invisible bodies, without harming them, and hit the wall behind them. Wilbur had felt how Violet pulled him away from Omicron. He tried to blink, but he couldn't because his eyelids were transparent somehow. They ran behind a wall into cover. Wilbur stumbled and almost fell a few times, because he couldn't see where his feet were.

In the moment Violet broke her grip he became visible again. Violet followed shortly afterwards.

"I assume we are even now!" she said with a casual smile, turned and plunged back into the fray.

"We are even now bah, bah, bah, bah, bah..." Wilbur muttered annoyed, imitating her voice, while he watched her fighting. He didn't know exactly what bothered him so much. Perhaps the fact that neither he nor Violet were able to talk just normally to each other...He went back to get to the time travellers when he suddenly discovered Lighting and Delta above him through a grid floor, and they were - He blinked, rubbed his eyes and looked up again.

Were those two holding hands?

* * *

Bobby was leaving when he stopped right in the air and turned back to the platform. Something hold him back...The Incredibles would be successful, he was sure of that. But what would this mean for the clones...? He knew these things would fight to their death in order to fulfil their mission. Their mission was their only purpose in life...Lead by a strange fear; he turned around and flew back.

He discovered Delta on an upper floor, standing on a railing, while she fired her ice beams from the top at Inferno.

He landed right next to her and touched her shoulder gently. When she didn't respond - neither with a glance, nor an attack - he grabbed both shoulders and turned her gently but firmly towards him.

"Come with me," he said firmly.

He had thought this through pretty well. Usually the clones responded better to commands than to questions. He took her hand and pulled her behind him. But she stood like an immovable rock.

"This is not part of the mission." she said without emotion.

Bobby turned around and took her by her shoulders again. He became nervous, fearing that she would freeze him at any moment.

"Listen, there's more in the world than your stupid mission!" he said, but his conviction vanished when he looked into her expressionless eyes...How could he convince a clone, who had never seen or heard anything of the outside world, who had been created only a single specific purpose, that there was more worth living for? That there was such a thing as a life at all...?

Delta looked away. For a moment, Bobby hoped she would think, but then he noticed that she watched Violet, who was fighting against Omicron.

"Find and kill the target object Violet Parr. That's the Mission." Delta said monotonously, without looking at him.

"Hey! Hey, look at me," Bobby began carefully.

She turned her head and looked at him, neither curiosity nor anything else in her eyes.

"If I hear the words mission or Violet from you ever again, I'll do something that I better should not do!"

"I have to fulfil the mission" Delta replied and wanted to turn away, but Bobby grabbed her tighter at her shoulders and suddenly pressed his lips on hers. It wasn't really a gentle kiss, but still not unpleasant. In fact it was the opposite. Nevertheless, Bobby couldn't really relax, because he expected that she would deep freeze him every moment. He realized that Delta held her breath but he didn't know whether that was a good or a bad sign. Well, if I die then it will be while kissing a pretty girl, he thought cynically.

When they broke apart, Delta looked at him with her big blue-white eyes, then she started to frown. It wasn't a great facial expression, yet he had never seen one of the clones show any emotion before.

"You're confused, right?" Bobby began excitedly, starting to gesticulate euphorically, "That's good! That's very good! It's not a real feeling, but it's enough for me! We can rely on that!"

Suddenly, her eyes began to glow brightly. At the same moment, the temperature seemed to drop to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Bobby got goose bumps. Delta's frown turned into an angry expression. She pressed her lips together and breathed heavily, as if she was about to scream or to cry.

"You're angry! That's good! This is even better! This - THIS is a real feeling!" Bobby squeaked between fear and excitement while he backed off, until he stood with his back against the wall! Ice crystals formed already, that seemed to climb up the walls.

But nothing more happened...It didn't become any colder and Delta didn't come any closer...for a few moments he looked at her. He could see that she fought an inner battle with herself and didn't exactly know what she was feeling or what she should do. She had to take a decision by herself, for the very first time of her artificial life.

"Why don't you attack me?" he asked finally. And now he didn't care whether questions confused the clones or not. Delta continued to stare at him with glowing eyes. "You could kill me...why don't you do it?"

"This...this is..." she began haltingly, "This is not part of the mission..."

"You don't have to fulfil this mission..."

Slowly Delta's eyes became normal. Her eyes now suddenly drifted into the distance and it seemed as if she was thinking about her future - a future without orders...

"And what if you succeed? What's going to happen with you? What will you do when Invisigirl is destroyed?"

At that moment, also the temperature returned to a normal degree. Delta backed away, her eyes reflected fear, uncertainty and confusion.

"Well, now she is a fairly typical teenager," Bobby thought with relief. He walked slowly towards her and then took her hand hesitantly. Although now it was even more dangerous than before, because he couldn't know how Delta responded to emotions, Bobby was now no longer afraid for some reason.

Without thinking or considering any risks he kissed her again. This time Delta seemed to give in. She even closed her eyes.

"Come with me," Bobby whispered, after they had separated. He took her hand and together they ran along the balustrade.

On the way it occurred to him that the Incredibles certainly won't let them escape so easily. He needed time...And he already had an idea how he would get it.

He ran along the balustrade with Delta, to a large cylindrical object that looked like a large water tank, while the battle was still raging among them. They stopped beside a small console, that was attached next to the object that stretched out over two floors. On its bottom there was a diminution that could be opened with a valve. This valve was operated from the small console.

Just before Bobby activated the valve to open, he wondered why the clones hadn't come up with this idea. It wouldn't stop the super heroes, but it would give him and delta enough time get away. Then he turned to the fighting supers below them.

"Hey, girls!"

Inferno, in her human torch form, Medium, and Violet paused, and looked in his direction. In that moment, Bobby operated the valve with a push of a button.

Instantly many countless baseball-size metal balls fell out of the tank blocking the way that led to the escape capsules. With a loud clatter the little spheres bounced on the floor and spread in the hall. The two time travellers had to stop. In that moment the older Wilbur returned to them.

"Oh great...and all at once..." Inferno said annoyed.

"Is this what I think it is?" the older Violet asked, a little worried.

"Have fun!" Bobby shouted from above. Then he took Delta's hand and ran off with her.

"What are those things?" the younger Wilbur asked and bent down to take one of the balls.

"Stop!" his older self cried grabing Wilbur's wrist, "You better keep your hand away!" He had a bad feeling concerning these strange balls. They reminded him in one of his father's inventions. And if they really were something like that, then they had to get out of here as quickly as possible.

His younger version, however, gave Violet a questioning glance, but she also didn't know what was wrong with these seemingly harmless spheres. They just lay around...and blocked their way. There seemed to be really no reason why they should not climb over this huge pile to get to the rescue capsules.

"We need to get away from here!" the older Wilbur said with unease.

The younger Violet just wanted to respond something, when Medium suddenly appeared.

"Get out of here!" she cried.

"Why?"

Suddenly a strange humming filled the air. The two time travellers looked around confused - the noise sounded almost as if they were in the middle of a beehive! Then Wilbur realized that the sound came from the metal balls; they all began to vibrate all of a sudden.

"That's why..." Medium said soberly.

"I knew it! Get out of here!" his older self cried and grabbed him and Violet at their arms and pulled them away from the metal balls. Unfortunately, these were scattered everywhere.

"Follow me! This way!" Medium said and ran forward. When she had brought the teenagers to safety, she teleported to Violet and Inferno again. Then the super heroes prepared to fight against the new threat...Inferno and Medium at least. Violet looked half-terrified, half-stunned in the direction where Lighting and Delta had disappeared.

"I don't know what confuses me more: that he stabbed us in the back again or that he has actually taken this clone with him..." she said deprecatorily.

"Violet! Prepare!" Inferno hissed strictly. The hum of the spheres was getting louder.

"I mean, what does he want with her? She is so pale and dumb. And she is a clone! She would be a good pet, but nothing more..." Violet continued, frowning and shaking her head stunned. She had never, ever, expected that Bobby would do something like this...

"Damn it, Violet!" Inferno's voice became louder.

"Apart from the fact that she is a soulless killer-machine..." Medium added.

"My goodness! Could you both please focus on the fight now?"

Suddenly, the humming stopped. The two time travellers and the older Wilbur held their breath. For a moment it was completely silent. Then suddenly the little spheres began to unfold. They opened up and out of them formed countless robot guards. That's where they had come all the time. The robots looked around for a moment, before fixing on the three super heroes and immediately open fired! Within a second the entire hall was filled by the bright tracers of the shots! The incredible mass of robots began to move all of a sudden and they all attacked at once!

Violet immediately formed a force field around her and Medium, while Inferno rushed right between the robots, like a firestorm. Medium suddenly disappeared, only to show up between the robots again! Violet was shocked, because Medium was completely lost without her protection! The robot turned to her, but before they could shoot at Medium, they suddenly floated in the air around Medium, like a hurricane! Even their shots were flying on a circular orbit around the young super hero, without hitting her!

Violet's jaw dropped in surprise. This spectacle was cinematic. She couldn't believe that little Emily had increased her powers so much in a single day. Only when her force field was hit violently by shots, she came around again. More robots surrounded her and fired at her. The noise was deafening and the light flashes of the shots were so bright, that she could hardly see.

There was it again, the old problem that her forces were actually completely defensive. Normally she would have to stay here now and wait until one of the others took care of these robots but today was anything but normal...

After all, she had just saved the city all alone from the total destruction. Maybe she still had some cool tricks. She increased the intensity of her force field, then widened it so fast that it almost was like a pressure wave. She had used this trick before, but it was only useful to knock thinks over. But this time all robots around her had been completely crushed and destroyed by the force.

For a moment, Violet stared surprised at the pile of scrap that now was scattered around her before she was suddenly attacked from the side. Violet didn't see this coming and within an instant she acted out of a reflex. She formed a small force field between her hands, pressed it together and fired it off suddenly, just like a Frisbee! The flat, purple disc shot straight through 30 robots and a wall, like a samurai sword, before it vanished. Violet had not deliberately intended this; she stared in horror at the destruction she had caused, when she suddenly burst.

"Awesome! Hey! Did you see that?" she cried enthusiastically to her nieces. But the two were too busy to fight against the robots themselves.

Violet didn't wait for an answer. Activating her new skin-tight protective shield, she lunged at the robot crowd. The robot tried to shoot and beat her, but it had no effect, on the contrary, the robot even damaged themselves because their arms broke on impact with the shield. But this was no reason for them to stop. Violet, however, had no problems at all! Each of her kicks and punches was hard as steel and yet for completely pain-free for her! She didn't care that she was surrounded by robots from all sides.

But suddenly her right foot stepped into the void!

She turned around and realized that the robots had pushed her to the edge of the platform during the fight. She stood with one foot in the air and tried to keep balance while below her was only darkness. Violet held her breath in shock. Then happened what had to happen. A single shot was enough to push her over the edge of the platform! Violet lost balance and fell!

Inferno saw her fall. Filled with panic, she called her sister.

"Medium! Help her!"

But Medium responded with a slightly annoyed glance. She had just enough to do herself to keep the robot floating with her telepathic powers, hurl them off and divert their shots. Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead from the effort already. Violet had a force field, so she wouldn't hurt herself when she crashed to the ground - though Medium had the feeling that this wouldn't even happen. Without a comment she turned her back to Inferno again. Inferno could not believe her eyes.

"Medium!" she cried once more. At this very moment Violet was falling and her sister didn't want to help her?

"Why don't you take care of this?" Medium countered, her voice was squeezed from the effort.

Meanwhile, the robots bent curiously over the edge of the platform. Then they turned around and aimed right at their next target. Finally, there was one more person with the same DNA...

In the meantime, the two time travellers and Wilbur's older version thought they were safe. They sat in a hidden corridor, leaned against a wall and waited. But suddenly the ground began to shake!

"What now?" the younger Wilbur asked concerned. What if they would finally crash?

Violet was sitting next to the entrance of the hall. She turned around and peered carefully into the hall - giving a short cry she rushed back behind the wall, her eyes wide open and breathing heavily.

"What?" the older Wilbur asked impatiently.

"Uh ... we got a problem!" Violet whispered, but she had hardly uttered the words, when thundering shots hit the wall from the other side, so that it shook and plaster rippled from the ceiling. Now they understood why the ground quaked: it was the drumming steps of countless robots that were suddenly surrounding them from all sides. Violet generated a force field just before the robots had the opportunity to open fire.

"Come! This way!" cried the older Wilbur. Protected by Violet's force field they ran down a corridor, followed by trigger-happy robots. Suddenly, their path was blocked by more robots. Now they were stuck.

"This way!" Violet cried, pointing to a dark corridor to the left of them. Both Wilbur's ran ahead, but Violet didn't follow them! When the younger Wilbur noticed that, he stopped immediately and ran back. His older self just managed to grab him, before he ran into the robots' fire line!

Violet, on the other hand, ran straight ahead into the middle of the fire of the attacking robots. Just like a bowling ball she cleaved through the robots, but they followed her like a magnet. Now her suspicions confirmed. The robots would leave Wilbur and his older version alone, they were not relevant to them. Their programming ordered them to eliminate Violet Parr. And that they fixed her now, could only mean one thing...her older self was dead

Violet got a knot in her throat but she ran on, chased by a horde of shooting robots and thought about how she could get rid of those tin buckets. Somehow she ended up back in the hall, where Inferno and Medium were still busy fighting...and there were still more robots waiting for her. As soon as she entered the hall, hundreds of red robot eyes were turned on Violet! She stopped, too shocked to respond. In that moment the robots suddenly started to ignore the other two supers and surrounded Violet.

Violet sighed annoyed and increased the intensity of her force field, while the robots fired at her like crazy, what was of course completely pointless...But suddenly, Violet had a bad feeling. The robots came closer and closer, the circle around her became closer. Actually Violet didn't have to care about that, because her force field protected her, but she didn't really know what this behaviour was supposed to mean...

The robots pushed - no, they pressed so tightly against her force field that they were beginning to crush and to stack on each other!

Then Violet realized. These things were going to bury her! The mass of robots pushed further and further until her force field was completely covered with heavy robot bodies. Now she knew what the robots were up to. She could feel how it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the intensity of her force field. The sweat was standing on her forehead; after all she had to work against the weight that was lying on the force field. She had resisted all the shots and the blows of the giant robot, but now her forces were exhausted finally. When no more light fell into her little "cave", she slowly started to panic that these things would crush her.

"Inferno!" she cried, without being sure if somebody outside could hear her through the mass of the robots that surrounded her. She suspected that Inferno was already trying to help her because it suddenly became pretty hot. Nevertheless, she remained surrounded by robots, and the heat didn't make the effort any easier, either. The pressure against the force field was still growing, it was almost unbearable! Violet was about to give in.

"Be strong, Vi! You can do it!" she suddenly heard Medium's voice in her head.

"Easy for you to say!" Violet hissed through her clenched teeth. She was the one who was stuck in here after all. Her body ached, she began to tremble and it would take only a short time before her force field would stop working...

Meanwhile, the younger Wilbur had followed Violet. When he reached the hall, his older self caught up with him again.

"Stop! I don't want you to get shot!" said his older self, while he grabbed his arm roughly.

"Where is she?" the younger Wilbur asked hectically, because he couldn't discover Violet anywhere.

"Oh-oh... I think I know where she is..." said his older version, pointing to a huge pile of robots.

"We have to help her!" the younger Wilbur cried desperately.

"Are you crazy? How are we supposed to do that?" his older version said.

Inferno tried hard to remove the robots from Violet's force field, but they hold on to each other so tightly, that she failed. The metal bodies already had a reddish glow from the heat and the air flickered around them.

"Stop it!" cried the young Wilbur, "Are you crazy? You'll fry her like in an oven!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Inferno defended, annoyed by the useless little boy, even though she knew he was right.

"I'm back!" cried a voice somewhere above them all of a sudden; the echo resounded from the walls.

A purple ball suddenly floated down and landed gracefully on the pile of robots. As soon as her feet touched solid ground, the sphere vanished, and Violet became visible again. The robots responded instantly. They fixed her immediately and began to shoot at her. Violet took off again and floated about 10 feet above the robots.

"What? Now you can fly too?" Inferno asked surprised. Honestly, she hadn't expected that Violet would show up again.

"I noticed it half-way down" Violet cried over the noise of the shots. Now that the robots followed her, her younger version was free again. Unconsciously she lay on the ground. The robots didn't care for her anymore, not now that her older Version was back. The older Violet threw energy-discs at the robots below her. She destroyed a lot, but there still were too many. She got further away so that Inferno could take care of her younger self, who still lay unconscious on the floor. A moment later the two Wilbur's were beside her.

"Is she all right?" the younger Wilbur asked concerned.

"I...I don't know ..." Inferno stammered while she felt Violet's pulse.

"She must be okay! Otherwise she wouldn't be here anymore" said the older Wilbur, pointing to the older Violet, who was still playing the target at the other end of the hall.

"Right - well then take her away from here! We'll end this now!" Inferno ordered the boys. While Inferno headed off to help the older Violet, the older Wilbur carried Violet in his arms to a narrow corridor, followed by his younger version. Medium was already there, waiting for them. On Inferno's way several robots attacked. Inferno, however, lunged at them like a fire storm and hurled them away. But suddenly she heard a clanking noise and a scream, followed by an irritated "Watch out!"

Obviously one of the robots that Inferno had thrown had hit Violet's force field. Through her force field (she could fly with it by using the zero gravity within the sphere to let it float), she hadn't hurt, but the impact had pushed her off her course. And she hadn't mastered the flight technique that well, so she didn't really know what to do about it.

"Excuse me! You are invisible!" Inferno defended. She felt how she slowly was in a really bad mood.

"Hello! Open your eyes! Don't you see my bright shining force field? Please, be so kind and throw your robots to somewhere else!" Violet cried bitchy, while she tried to get her force field back on track. Inferno, meanwhile, continued to shoot fireballs at the robot angrily.

"Just don't fly around in my fire line!" Inferno grumbled.

"You better try to be useful!" Violet retorted. She landed with her force field next Inferno, and began to shoot disk-like force fields at the robots. This attack was much more effective than Inferno's fireballs. Inferno's mood became even worse. Did she have to take this from her two (biological) year's younger aunt? Despite their continuing attacks, the robot didn't seem to become less. They all fired at Violet, but the shots bounced off of her new skin-tight protective shield. Inferno swallowed her anger. She knew that Violet had had a hard day and that she didn't mean it. However, her flames became hotter for several degrees.

"We should stop nagging each other and focus on beating up those trash cans!" she said with a firm voice. She was the leader and it was her job to make sure that they succeeded.

"If you mean." she heard Violet mumble beside her. But then, very quietly, yet clearly, she heard a muttered "You incompetent cow!"

"What?" Inferno burst out. She could hardly believe what she had just heard, and right now too, in this dangerous situation! Did Violet seriously wanted to start a fight now?

"What?" Violet asked innocently.

"Say that again!" Inferno hissed at her as she turned into her flame shape.

"What?" Violet cried again, because she had no idea what Inferno was talking about. Meanwhile, the robots ceased fire and watched this strange scene confused.

"You miserable, little coward! Say that once more!" Inferno shouted, now completely in a rage. In her fury she shot a fireball at Violet.

"Are you insane? Why are you shooting at me?" Violet screamed, her face red from anger.

"Hey! What are you doing? You should fight those robots!" the younger Wilbur cried from behind the cover. He and the others had observed this spectacle with shock.

"Shut up!" the two brawlers cried at the same time. The younger Wilbur jerked when they yelled at him, then they continued to shout at each other again.

"What are they doing there?" Wilbur asked, confused.

"Oh, they're just gathering their energy...it'll be over soon" Medium said calmly, with a peculiar smile. Wilbur gave his older self a questioning glance, but he only shrugged. He didn't understand that either. He was just glad that he wasn't the reason for Violet's anger this time.

"Who's incompetent?" Inferno shouted.

"Well, I'm not! I don't shoot fireballs at my team members! And you want to be a leader?"

"No! You just let yourself freeze up and pretend as if you lost your powers! How professional!"

"If you had showed up in time -"

"'Help, help! My foot is frozen! Save me!'" she imitated Violet's voice.

Full with anger, Violet shot an energy-disc at Inferno, who was still in her torch from. She became split in the middle, then turned slowly around, following the disc with her eyes. Then she turned to Violet again, her fire getting hotter, her flames even became blue.

"Wow..." said the younger Wilbur in surprise, while the girls started shouting at each other again.

"Well...I've never seen that before either..." Medium said with pursed lips and nodded slowly, one hand on her chin, as is she would look at a picture in a museum.

"Don't you want to intervene?" the older Wilbur asked, slowly getting worried.

"No." was Medium's monosyllabic response.

"Oh, sweet little Violet! Our life is soooo much better since you're back! All live happily ever after! How fortunate that you've returned!"

"What's wrong with you? Do you think I fell into this capsule on purpose?"

"My problem? If you hadn't frustrated Cobra's plans in the past, we wouldn't have this mess now! Then we could live a normal life - without you and this super hero crap!" Inferno cried angrily.

"His plans?" Violet cried furiously. Then she burst out, "I had plans too! What do you think I would do if I could turn back time?"

Click...Maybe she was much more similar to her younger version as she had thought, and for the first time she could understand her younger self. When she had found out about the existence of a time machine, she would have done the same. Now she was even angrier.

"Yes! So now beat up those stupid robots!" they both suddenly heard Medium's voice in their heads. Violet and Inferno first looked at each other, then they channelled all their anger on the metal-creatures in front of them. They both attacked the robots in the same moment; smoke, steam, flames and purple flashed...it almost seemed like a huge laser show.

Meanwhile -

"Wait a minute... What does she mean she lost her life? And what about the past?" the older Wilbur suddenly asked confused. The whole thing was pretty confusing. And when things became confusing, then mostly a time machine was involved. "Did she stole the time machine before, or what?" he asked, hoping for a 'no'.

His younger self gulped. He didn't want give away Violet's secret, but could he lie to his older self? Could he lie to himself, so to speak? When the older Wilbur saw his uncomfortable expression, he became suspicious.

"Where have you been before you landed here?" he shouted over the noise of the battle and grabbed Wilbur's arm.

"No where!" Wilbur defended, "Uh...that's all quite simple actually..." he added sheepishly. The older Wilbur stared at him for a moment, then he suddenly burst out.

"Now tell me! What's all this about?"

While the shots hit the walls behind them, the younger Wilbur breathed deeply. When Violet trusted him, she logically trusted his older self too, right? After all they were one and the same person. But after everything he had found out about his older self so far, Wilbur had the feeling that he certainly wouldn't understand immediately.

"Vi comes from the past..." he began slowly, the noise drowning out the shots. As expected his older self didn't get it.

"Sure, you both come from the past, I got that much." the older Wilbur said sarcastically.

"No, she really comes from the past! She was born 1991!"

"What? How...?" his older self asked puzzled.

Violet Parr should come from the past? But how could this be possible? At that time, time machines weren't invented yet...Suddenly he had a terrible thought. There was only one logical explanation!

"You are responsible for this!"

A violent explosion above them forced them to leave their cover and to hide in another hallway. Once they were safe again his older version grabbed Wilbur's arm.

"Are you crazy! Do you know how dangerous it is to play around with the time stream! That's not a toy!" he cried strictly, but then he suddenly stopped short. His younger version was giving him a strange look and then he realized it himself. He sounded way too much like his own father.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... I have nothing to do with that!" Wilbur replied defensively and broke away from him. But his older self didn't stop. Before Wilbur had the opportunity continue, his older version began gesticulating frantically with his arms.

"So, if we survive this, I first have to clean up the time continuum, that YOU messed up, GREAT! As if I hadn't enough problems today!"

"Will you let me finish! She had fought against these Cobra guy already, 30 years ago - she fell in...cryo-...cryo-..." and again his older self interrupted.

"What now?" urged his older self impatiently.

"Cryostasis!"

"Cryostasis?" his older self asked, surprised, "Violet Parr...was in cryostasis?"

That couldn't be true!

"That's right!" replied his younger self, feeling satisfied. The older Wilbur shook his head in disbelief. That couldn't be right. His younger version must have misunderstood something surely. Violet Parr didn't come from the past...that was impossible.

"Sure..." he said sarcastically, "You read too many comics!"

The younger Wilbur was a little offended. You could never read too many comics.

"Pff, fine! You don't have to believe me! After all you're much smarter than me!" he replied sarcastically.

A tremendous shot - they couldn't see whether it came from one of the robots, Inferno or Violet - hit one of the supporting pillars, so that everything quaked and debris, metal pieces and render bounced on the floor around them. Suddenly, they saw that not far from them, two robots were standing. Medium picked up the unconscious Violet from the ground and ran away to bring her to safety. In that moment the robots discovered them, they stormed towards the two boys and loaded their weapons!

Wilbur's older self jumped up and tried to drag Wilbur after him, but he jerked himself free.

"Okay! That's the last straw!" he suddenly cried determined. He grabbed a chromed metal piece (one of the many debris parts that were scattered everywhere). Then he held this 'mirror' in the right way so that it reflected the shots, causing them to shoot back and destroy the robots. His older self looked quite impressed at the remains of the two robots. Wilbur shouldered the metal piece and put his other hand akimbo.

"I got this from a comic too!" he grinned proudly.

"Yeah, awesome...!" his older self coughed and rolled his eyes annoyed, "Now come on!"

They ran along the corridor, where Medium had disappeared with Violet. They caught her up in an adjacent passage, where she had brought the unconscious girl. Meanwhile the battle was still raging in the hall. The air was filled more and more with smoke and dust, so that they could barely see. There was a smell of hot metal.

The soundscape was deafening. Crackle, hissing and the noise from the fire, falling debris crashing to the ground, the sounds of shots and explosions everywhere.

The boys and Medium had no choice other than to wait. Medium didn't seemed to be worried at all, she simply sat there calmly. The older Wilbur assumed that there probably was no reason to seriously worry about. He breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed for the first time since they had been there. Something moved next to the younger Wilbur. Violet turned her head then suddenly opened her eyes.

"What...? Where am I?" she asked, confused. Wilbur immediately slid next to her.

"We're still on the platform..." he said.

"Is it over?" Violet asked, hopefully.

"Not yet..."

"Oh..." said Violet a little disappointed, "Can you wake me when it's over?" she added jokingly. Wilbur laughed and helped her to sit upright.

Suddenly, there was one last explosion that made the ground to shake violently then silence. Slowly the dust began to settle...Countless smashed robot parts appeared, the ground was literally covered with ripped off robot arms, legs, heads and torsos. There were piles of debris everywhere and in the middle appeared two young super heroines, who were completely out of breath.

"I would say that was good team work..." Violet said, out of breath, and pretty surprised.

"Oh, now don't be so self-important!" Inferno grumbled in a bad mood.

"Why are you so aggressive?" Violet protested. She just couldn't understand Flames behaviour.

"Hey! You started it!" cried Inferno in a rage again.

Just before the two started fighting again, Medium appeared between them with a flash.

"Blame me! It's my fault, I'm sorry!" she said.

"What?" the other two cried, stunned.

"I manipulated you on purpose..."

"You did what?"

"I've provoked you, so that you become angry. This gave you new energy and you could mobilize your forces again...!" Medium replied.

"Medium!" Inferno snapped dangerously.

"We could've managed this very well without your intervention!" said Violet, peeved.

"Of course..." Medium began with sarcasm, "But I wasn't in the mood to wait any longer" she grinned at Inferno.

First Inferno stopped short, then she suddenly began to laugh, and went up to her sister.

"If you ever do this again -" she said, but she didn't complete the threat. Lovingly, she embraced Medium. Then she turned to Violet.

"Violet! Stop glaring!" she said, and wanted to hug her too, but Violet drew back.

"No, I'm still mad at you." Violet said quietly, crossing her arms offended. She didn't want to fight with Flame again, but on the other hand she also didn't want to let the matter rest.

"I'm sorry...really..." Inferno said softly, and you could hear her guilt. Violet ignored the apology with a snort.

At that moment, three heads peered out curiously from behind a corner. It was a funny sight, and Violet had to suppress laughter, mainly because her ribs hurt. Right now, she didn't care that she was mad at Flame, or that she had problems with Junior. She would fix all that later. Now she just wanted to go home.

"Come out! It's over!" Inferno cried over to the three teenagers.

"Ah!" the older Violet sighed exhausted, "When I'm home, first thing I do is taking a nice, warm bath!" she continued with pleasant anticipation. The others came out of their hiding and joined the super heroes.

"Okay, then off to the rescue capsules!" Inferno ordered.

"Finally!" the older Wilbur cried, relieved. He folded his hands behind his head and stretched.

"There are two rescue capsules left; Cobra's agents have used the others to escape." the older Violet said. On the way into the hall she and Bobby had run through the hangar, where the rescue capsules were stored.

"There's only one left..." Medium corrected, "Lightning and Delta took the other one..."

"Oh, right!" the older Violet snickered. The idea that Bobby had actually developed romantic feelings for a clone amused her immensely.

"Let's leave! I don't want to stay one more minute on this platform!" the older Wilbur said and went ahead. The others followed him to the hangar. But Medium didn't move.

"Now, come on Medium!" Inferno said and waved her to follow them.

"Wait..." Medium began quietly. The others turned around to her. The young super hero's eyes had just stopped glowing. She looked at them very seriously.

"You can't leave yet..." she said totally soberly to Violet and Inferno.

She was completely calm. That was even scarier than her visions. The tone and her expression didn't leave the slightest doubt. And just this unshakable certainty caused deep unease in the others.

"Oh no! Not again!" the older Wilbur cried, irritable. He finally had enough and just wanted to go home. But every time they thought it was over, there suddenly some new problem popped up, that brought them into mortal danger again. He didn't want anymore. But when he saw how calm Violet and the two super heroes remained, he had to remember that they were used to this stress and all the danger. It was hard to believe that Violet Parr was still able to get upset about useless, little things like singed hair, clothes or shoes.

"No, we must see that we get the kids off this platform as quickly as possible! We must bring them back to their time. Let's go!" Inferno commanded firmly.

Medium sighed. Her sister had no idea of the things that they still had to expect. The robots had been the smaller problem. But she didn't try to explain it to the others. There was no need and no time for complicated explanations now...They would find out soon enough.

The younger Wilbur, however, understood immediately. Frustrated, he drooped and ran his hand through his dishevelled, dusty hair. Each bone was hurting and his clothes were ruined. But that didn't matter. He knew what would happen now, according to the dramaturgical order; he had read enough comic books and had watched enough Captain Future episodes.

"Why didn't I think of this before..." he cried, and smacked his forehead.

"What?" the younger Violet asked sceptically.

"Well, if I was a clone and tried to kill you, and none of my plans would have worked, I would activate the self-destruction." Wilbur explained hastily, gesturing with his hands. He had hardly finished the sentence, when a monotone computer voice echoed from all sides.

"Self-destruction in T minus 10 minutes..."

* * *

Please Review!

The first kiss, haha! Too bad it wasn't Wilbur and Violet XD

Thanks to animeloveramy again! She did a great job!


	43. Chapter 42

"Oh fantastic! So we have the same problem like before!" the young Violet cried annoyed, "If this thing explodes, it leaves a huge crater. Awesome!"

"Will this never end?" cried the old Wilbur completely unnerved, almost frustrated, and tore his hair. A red warning light began to flash ominously and dipped them in a blood-red light every few seconds.

"Well, we have 10 minutes! What do we do?" said his younger version, who realized that it was useless to get excessively excited about the situation.

"I actually thought that he gives us less time," stated the older Violet soberly.

"Don't forget, these are 10 Cobra-minutes" Inferno considered, "Do you remember the explosion at the wastewater treatment plant? He gave us 5 minutes back then, and after 2 minutes - BOOM!"

The older Wilbur looked up and surveyed the three young super heroines, stunned. He remembered the sensational case. Nothing ever exploded in Todayland, except in laboratories for research purposes. The newspapers were full of it, but none of them had ever mentioned any super heroes, or even Cobra ...

"That was you? I thought a capacitor blew up...?"

This comment was stupid and more than unnecessary, considering how little time they had. A short, embarrassed silence followed. His younger self cleared his throat, to break the uncomfortable silence.

"However, we have to turn off this thing!" he changed the subject.

"That won't work ..." Medium to spoke out.

"But we have to try!" the young Violet said determined.

"But how, without the command center? If we -" Medium began again.

"I think I know where we'll find the computer for the self-destruction," Inferno suddenly, rushed. Finally, they had not much time!

"You know, I could try -" Medium started once more but was interrupted again. Apparently no one seemed to listen to her, as long as her eyes were not glowing and her voice didn't sound with an echo.

"Hurry! We need to find end deactivate this thing!" interrupted the old Violet and ran forward. The others followed her, but suddenly they all stopped in the middle of the movement, as if they were frozen. None of them could move! Confused their eyes moved, looking for the cause.

The two time travellers feared, they were captured in the zero-point energy beam again... but suddenly Medium appeared in front of them. She was the only one who could still move. And she didn't look very happy.

"After all I've done today, would it be too much to listen to me for a minute?" She said, determined, and folded her arms. She examined the others carefully, then continued more relaxed.

"Nice that you agree! What I try to tell you all the time is, that I have a plan already. And it is the only chance to succeed," she began, while she folded her hands behind her back and began to walk up and down in front of the others.

"There are three options how this day could end," she said. She concealed the detail, that she was not really able to predict the following events, because they were related to her own actions. It was like playing billiard. If you stood outside the table and watched the game, you could predict with reasonable accuracy, which ball would end up at which place. But if you were the ball yourself, you never knew exactly where you would end up at the end.

This was Medium's situation now. Since everything was now dependent upon her actions and her decisions now, she couldn't exactly tell, what was going to happen. But she avoided to trouble the others with this information even more.

"Option one: I'm not able to teleport away the energy of the crystal and it explodes. We already know the consequences - destruction of the entire city, a huge crater, death and demolition everywhere. Second option: I manage to teleport away the crystal, but the energy overloads my mind and will discharge immediately. The result would be about the same. Or third option: I manage to teleport the crystal and its entire energy into space, where it can discharge without damage!", she made an expressive break.

"In that case, however, the platform will be still destroyed by the self-destruction. And since we are right above Todayland, the platform would crash directly on the city. This is where it's your turn -" she said, pointing to the old Violet.

"You have to position yourself below the platform and protect the city with your force field. And you -" she turned to the two time travellers, "you will leave with the rescue capsule and try to bring as much distance between you and the platform as possible. It doesn't matter though, if things don't work out, but if I succeed, you have to travel back in time and ensure that it never comes so far, got it?"

With these words, the freezing stopped, so that they all could suddenly move again.

Inferno, who had tried to contradict her sister during the freeze with all might, didn't know what to say anymore. Suddenly the thought shot through her mind, that the chances were absolutely not good. 1:3 for the city and even worse for her sister.

The first time in her life she was cold and got goose bumps.

"And what will happen to you?" she asked with a hoarse voice.

"You are still here?" the older Violet suddenly cried at the two time travellers, before Medium could reply. Violet didn't want to hear what Emely was saying next.

Apart from the fact they had only a few minutes. They had to hurry.

With a shooing wave (and a knot in her throat) she chased the two young teenagers in the direction of the rescue capsule, the older Wilbur followed them.

The younger Violet still felt weak, but this time it was a different feeling, almost as if she was paralized. She had a lack of motivation to even run fast when she thought about, that they most likely would die anyway... why were they hurrying so much then? The whole thing seemed pretty useless to her, especially when she saw the pale face of her older self, and her more than concerned expression.

Medium looked after them... then she turned her gaze to her older sister, who looked at her steadfastly, with a mixture of fear and despair. Medium was expecting a rub down - waiting for Flame to act up as the big sister, who was about to fix everything herself... waiting for her stop her.

But they both knew, that this would probably be the only chance to save the city from the total destruction. None of them said a word, while the red warning light illuminated the room silently.

"You're staying?" Emely asked. Flame nodded, without taking her eyes from her sister. Finally the explosions and the strong radiation of the crystal couldn't harm her.

Emely suddenly started smiling.

"Do you remember what Grandpa said once? That true heroes are always willing to sacrifice their lives for someone else?"

That put Flame over the edge. Tears flooded her eyes, and she didn't try to suppress the sobs any longer. She was angry and desperate because it was necessary ...

Necessary to sacrifice her sister.

Meanwhile, Violet and the others reached the rescue capsule. And as soon the others were gone, Violet would have to position herself below the platform, just like Emely had said.

When they reached the hangar, Violet ran right ahead to the last remaining capsule, climbed up, hastily opened the hatch and helped the younger Wilbur and her younger version entering into the back seat. When the two were sitting, she jumped down.

"Okay, it was nice to meet you!" she said curtly. They had no time for long, emotional farewells. The two had to leave the platform as fast as possible.

"If you return into your time -"

"We ensure that it doesn't come so far. We got it ..."

"Good kids!" she said and gave the two more than anxious looking children a wry smile, "Well then, good luck!", she cried and waved as she turned around - but suddenly she almost bumped into Wilbur. She was startled, because she hadn't expected him to stand so close behind her. He wanted to say something, but just when the important words were about to leave his lips, Violet began:

"What are you doing here? You should be gone already! This thing is about to blow up at any moment!" she cried hastily, waving her arms, and then pushing him towards the rescue capsule.

"Wait!"

"No time! We discuss this later!"

"Perhaps there won't be a 'later'!" he said forcefully, so that his voice echoed from the walls, and thus expressed what everyone hardly dared to even think.

"You should've thought of this earlier!" Violet said, so quietly that the time travellers couldn't hear, but still with a clear reproachful tone. Wilbur felt an unpleasant stab, on the other hand, he felt angry because she tried to put the blame for everything on him. It wasn't his fault that their relationship - if you could call it like this at all - was so messed up! He would have really loved to start a fight about all this with her right now, to clarify everything once and for all. After all this was the only way they were able to interact with each other - but that they had no time for that.

"And now shove off!" Violet ordered hastily.

Wilbur climbed into the rescue capsule, launched the drive, and steered the small vehicle with increasing speed away from the platform, without turning to Violet once more.

Depressed silence filled the capsule, while they were flying away from the platform. None of them could really feel relief about that they finally left. Only the wind and the hum of ion-engine of the capsule were the only noises, that were heard.

Violet and Wilbur turned to look back at the platform to see what happened. For the first time they saw this thing in its entirety. A large part was destroyed, and smaller components and debris were constantly dropping off, illuminated by the bright exterior lights. This building was incredibly huge. Even bigger than it had appeared from the inside. The shimmering exterior lighting and the red warning light were a strong contrast to the black night sky; the platform seemed threatening, while the rescue capsule was getting faster.

It was a intense image, that seemed to last forever. Like a photo this image burned into Violet's memory.

But suddenly the scenery changed. From the interior of the platform a bright glow appeared, an extremely bright light; sharp rays were shining into the night sky. The light was getting brighter, so that the two kids had to cover their eyes, to avoid being blinded. But after a few seconds even that didn't have an effect! The light felt hot on her skin and seemed to penetrate everything. Even the older Wilbur was blinded, though he had turned his back to the platform!

The people on the ground didn't feel much better. Everybody had to turn away, waiting for what would happen next.

* * *

Emely and Flame had arrived in the room, where the crystal - that was almost bursting with the energy of the city - was in fixed inside of an obscure substructure. It was the room below the chamber with the broken glass cylinders, where Violet's powers had been modified.

Flame was still cold, and she felt even colder and more uncomfortable, when she had to watch her sister approaching in the crystal. Emely took off her blue gloves and put her hands around the crystal, without touching it, and closed her eyes.

Only a short moment of silence passed, when suddenly a strong light began to shine from the crystal. Some energy discharged in flashes, with green and white bolts, that were moving incredible slow. The glow spread on and on, until it completely surrounded Emely. But the light not only surrounded her, but seemed to shine out of herself.

It really was a beautiful sight, so that one could easily forget the fatal danger. The beams suddenly became very intense; Flame felt how they penetrated her plasma body -

Now, now it would happen. Either destruction or salvation. Everything depended on Emely, who was just about to do something completely impossible. Never before a human being had teleported something over 400 miles, and especially not millions and millions of gigawatts of energy!

But today, nothing was impossible ...

And suddenly, in this very second, in which it was about everything, where everything was open, Flame remembered that Emely had taken the word 'impossible' ad absurdum her entire live already.

* * *

_Dash, Sybille and Flame were in the practice of Dr. Jagoda, a specialist when it came to supers. He himself was also a super, with the super strength of healing. That was probably why he was such a successful doctor._

_He had already cared for Sibylle, during her pregnancy with Flame, and for Flame, after her super powers had been discovered. Now he was supposed to check how things stood with Emely._

_With her almost four years it seemed like an eternity for Flame, that they were here. She was bored and wanted to go home again._

_The doctor had done all sorts of standard tests, which were made for children with the suspect of having super powers. So far everything looked good. There was no evidence of any prenatal superpowers._

_In the end - he already was about to say goodbye to them - he held up a device, and pointed right at Sybille._

_Apparently, contrary to his expectations, the device gave a loud, shrill beep, so that Flame and her parents winced. Jagoda winced too, so much so that his glasses slipped from his nose and he almost dropped the device._

_"What was that?" Dash asked, concerned, while holding Sybille's hand. Sybille just stared at the doctor, shocked._

_"Uh, nothing ... This thing must be broken," Jagoda stammered, a bit confused. He turned the device off and on again and hold it towards Sybille. Again there was the shrill beeping._

_"I'll get a new one," said the doctor, and left the room, only to return with another device that looked just like the previous one - again with the same result. Once the device was aimed at Sybille, there was a loud warning sound._

_Flame pressed herself closer to her father. The mood had suddenly changed from carefree to worried, in an instant._

_"Hm," made the doctor, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, while he looked dubiously at the display of the device._

_"What does this mean?" Dash asked anxiously. Jagoda startled from his thoughts._

_"Uh, nothing... nothing, really ... nothing to worry about, actually..." he said quietly, without looking at Dash. He examined Sybille, who gave him an uncertain gaze._

_"But ... during the pregnancy, did you notice something... strange?" he asked hesitantly, after a longer pause._

_"Something strange?" Dash asked irritably, "Can you perhaps put it a bit more specific?"_

_"Well, something unusual, something that you can't explain..." Jagoda replied, looking at Sybille. Dash it was irritated._

_"UFOs? Ghosts?" he urged; he wanted to have a more precise explanation of the symptoms, since the doc was talking about the health about his unborn child._

_"No, no, I was thinking about something more like ..." Jagoda stopped, searching for words, "How shall I describe it...?"_

_"No! Everything was perfectly normal!" Dash said forcefully. He didn't believe that there was anything in the doctor's confusing talk and vague questions._

_"I hear bells ringing..." an anxious voice confessed suddenly._

_"What?" Dash asked, turning to his wife. She stared at the doctor anxiously._

_"I hear bells ringing... when I feel good. Or when I'm laughing." Sybille continued, uncertain._

_Little Flame suddenly remembered, that her mother had often asked her, if she would hear these sounds too, what she had always denied._

_"Really?" Jagoda said with a mixture of disbelief and excitement. His eyes widened in amazement._

_"What bells?" Dash asked, stunned._

_"And if I don't feel well, I hear some kind of... noise. Like ocean waves, only ... deeper."_

_"Unbelievable ..." Jagoda muttered in awe, and put his hand over his mouth._

_"Why didn't you tell me?" Dash asked his wife quietly._

_"I thought I was losing my mind ..." she confessed, whispering. _

_"That's impossible ..." Jagoda said, shaking his head in disbelief._

_"What?" Sybille asked, uncertainly._

_"So ... apparently - I don't even dare to say this aloud - it's just too unlikely - but as it seems, your little daughter is...", he took a deep breath before he finished the sentence,"a medium"._

_Silence filled the room. At her age Flame had no idea, what a medium was. _

_Was it a disease? Was it something bad? Was something wrong with her little sister? Whatever it was, it disturbed her._

_She looked at their parents, but she wasn't able to interpret their facial expressions. Uneasy, she moved in her father's arms._

_"You mean -" Dash began finally._

_"And what a medium!" the doctor suddenly burst out, when he looked at the device again, that measured telekinetic and telepathic activity. Both needles pointed to maximum!_

_"She is already capable to establish telepathic contact with you! And she isn't even born! Usually children don't develop telekinetic powers until the age of 3!" Jagoda said with rising enthusiasm._

_"Should we be worried now?" Sybille asked, still worried._

_"I - I don't know ..." the doctor confessed, sat down and took a deep breath, as if he had just completed a one hundred meter sprint, "I've never seen anything like this," he said helplessly, "Scientists are even convinced that something like this is completely impossible."_

_

* * *

_

Suddenly the glaring light disappeared!

And suddenly it was darker than ever before.

Their eyes took long to adjust again.

Violet, who had curled up in the back seat of the rescue capsule, blinked as she sat up and looked out the back window to the platform. Her eyes ached, but still, she could see that almost nothing had changed. Only the bright light was gone ... Also there was no sound ...

Was this the calm before the storm? Did Emely succeed?

Violet feared the worst ...

A moment later also Wilbur sat up again. They exchanged a glance. Violet heart was pounding fast. The atmosphere was still tensed. Everything could still turn out wrong. She felt incredibly sorry about everything.

"Is it over?" The old Wilbur from the front seat.

Before the others could say anything, Todayland was suddenly shining bright as day!

They could clearly see the city below them. When they looked up to locate the source of that light, they discovered the huge explosion in the orbit!

Beautiful bright light, fast-spreading like a shimmering, silvery liquid, like a shining curtain of smoke and wind, the energy spread all over the sky.

The occupants of the small rescue capsule were like mesmerized by the beauty of this spectacle, combined with unspeakable relief.

"She did it!" the young Wilbur cheered suddenly and laughed. Violet wanted to cheer to - after all, they were save again and could finally return back home! She felt so light suddenly, as if she lost a heavy weight - but then she stopped short.

What about Emely? What if she was dead? Or still alive?

"We have to go back!" she cried suddenly, determined, grabbing the older Wilbur's shoulder.

"What? No!" he cried. He would certainly not return, now that they finally were save. Besides that his order was to bring the them back to their time as quickly as possible.

"Come on!" Violet pleaded, "Perhaps Medium is hurt!"

But the older Wilbur didn't show a reaction. He just looked straight ahead, trying to ignore her.

"She just saved your and everybody else's life!" his younger self cried reproachfully.

When he heard his own (only younger) voice, Wilbur grunted annoyed and turned the steering wheel. They were right. When Medium was alive, they had to help her!


	44. Chapter 43

While the light of the energy discharge spread across the sky, like giant curtain of luminous plasma and lit. Todayland as bright as day, the older Violet floated below the platform. Surprised, she watched this spectacle, but when it became bright, she remembered just in time to make herself invisible, so that the citizens wouldn't discover her.

Only a moment later the relevance of the event became clear to her - Medium had done it! She had succeeded to teleport the energy in the vacuum to charge there where it couldn't harm anybody! Now Violet's part of the plan would begin.

... She only hoped that Medium was okay.

Suddenly the self-destruction of the platform activated, just as Medium had anticipated.

At this very moment Violet remembered that there was no plan for how Medium should be saved from the platform - if she was still alive at all, she would explode and crash along with the platform.

But Vi had no time to worry about it any longer.

It began with several small explosions, sounding almost like New Year's Eve, then it became more and more and bigger explosions, large sections broke away from the structure and burning debris began to plummet -

And then it happened: slowly, almost threatening slowly the platform began to fall, inexorably and alarming. It was followed by deafening explosions, and Violet could feel the heat on her skin and the pressure wave was shaking her. Then, finally the burning debris began detach from the structure.

Violet got panic for a moment, her heart made a startled jump, when this huge mass started moving towards her. She swallowed, and asked herself for a moment, whether she could actually create and maintain such a gigantic force field. Was she at the right position at all?

But she had to forget these questions, it was already too late to make a change. Violet closed her eyes determined and enlarged the small sphere around her. It required a lot of strength and concentration to fly and to increase the size of the force field at the same time, but finally a huge purple dome shone over the city.

Violet earnestly hoped that she would withstand the pressure when the platform hit the force field.

Then the mass crashed with a horrible, indefinable screeching against the force field and slowed down abruptly!

The pressure increased all of a sudden, it became so unbearably strong that Violet couldn't breathe! She gritted her teeth, beads of sweat formed on her forehead, her muscles trembled under the strain. But she resisted the compressive forces. Then, suddenly she heard a loud raging, cracking noise. She looked up and saw that the platform was about to break apart! Burning debris of all sizes slid down on the outside of the giant shield.

* * *

The older Wilbur piloted the capsule incredibly savvy through the burning wreckage, but a landing on the platform was impossible. Everything was shaking violently, and burning debris and rubble was blocking the landing area.

The capsule was floating several feet above the ground. Violet hastily opened the glass roof. Immediately hot, shimmering air poured into the capsule, which almost took away their breath. Violet needed a moment to get used to the heat, before she bowed out of the capsule and tried to see something in the interior of the burning platform. They weren't far from the chamber in which the crystal had been stored. But burning wreckage blocked the way and the hot air made Vi's eyes tear. Then took a deep breath of the hot air.

"Emely!" she cried, as loud as she could. But before she had finished she regretted it already. Startled, she stared at the two Wilburs, who looked at her puzzled.

"Oh... uhm... You didn't hear that!" Violet cried quickly. Then suddenly, quite unexpected, she jumped out of the capsule, formed a force field around herself and searched for a way through the wreckage. She would not let her niece down!

Wilbur was shocked and prepared to follow her, but his older self stopped him. The two were waiting anxiously, while Violet was already out of sight.

* * *

When platform began to explode, Inferno was feeling her sister's pulse. She was still alive, but unconscious. When the self-destruction had started, she protected Emely with her body from the explosions, and now they had the problem to get down from this platform as quick as possible, or they would crash!

But Flame was only able to fly in her torch form, and this way she wouldn't be able to carry Emely, without hurting her seriously... yet Flame pondered this risk, because the alternative was far worse.

Whatever she wanted to do, she had to hurry. Burning debris was falling around them on the floor and melted, burning plastic dripping from the ceiling.

Suddenly Flame felt like she heard somebody calling. She tried ti see something between the burning wreckage, that covered everything, but she couldn't discover anything.

Nevertheless, Flame took her sister and carried her in her arms in the direction from which she believed to have heard the call. She had to reach the edge of the platform anyway, and quickly!

Meanwhile, Violet made her way through the fire. Suddenly she discovered Flame, who was carrying Emely in her arms, at some distance.

Even if it hurt to breath the burning hot and smelly air, Violet shouted:

"Flame!"

Her mouth was completely dried up only from this one word.

Flame was puzzled and looked around. When she discovered Vi, she changed the direction and immediately came up to her. She had to dodge away, because several pieces of debris fell down with a loud roar. When Flame reached her, Violet enlarged the force field in order to protect all three of them from the crashing debris and together they hurried to the capsule. When Flame discovered the capsule behind the last turn, she breathed a sigh of relief. Without hesitation, they ran to the small flying object.

They had almost reached the capsule! The younger Wilbur leaned out already, and stretched out his hand to pull them into the rescue capsule ...

But suddenly the capsule began to rise for some reason!

Vi frowned, she didn't understand why the older Wilbur took off with the capsule.

Only when she saw Wilbur terrified face, she realized that it was not the capsule, which rose, but that platform was falling!

When she tried to make the next step, her foot stepped already into the void, and she began to float. The feeling of the sudden weightlessness caught her breath. Everything happened so unnaturally slow, yet Vi did not really understand what was exactly happening.

Suddenly she was grabbed firmly.

Flame pushed off the ground and pulled Emely and Vi with her, away from the platform!

Now Vi definitely had the feeling to fall. The wind whizzed wildly through her hair and below her she saw the reflection of the energy discharge in the sky in the lake of Todayland! Reflexively, she started paddling with her arms and legs, as if that could slow down her fall. Not far away, the platform began to broke apart at once with a deafening roar and clatter. But Vi didn't realized that. Her eyes were fixed on the ground in fear.

But suddenly a silver object was racing in her field of vision ... the escape pod!

Vi was surprised that - despite her life threatening situation - she could still feel happiness! The fear was gone in an instant! The older Wilbur maneuvered the capsule closer to them and opened the hood. When she saw Wilbur, who was stretching out his hand for her, Violet's heart was beating even faster then it already did.

She couldn't prevent a happy smile when she finally managed to take his hand. She turned around to Flame, but suddenly she got a violent push, which threw her against Wilbur and into the capsule! She landed right on Wilbur and Emely (who was still unconscious) landed on her.

Then she briefly felt a strong heat, but disappeared immediately, followed by an impressed "Wow!" from the older Wilbur.

Then he immediately turned around to them.

"Are you all there! Is anyone hurt?"

"I don't think so..." the younger Wilbur said, breathing heavily, lying on his back below the two girls while he was trying to struggle on his elbows. Violet lay with her head on his chest, she could hear his heartbeat pounding. Oh, how sorry she felt that this dear heart had to beat so fast...

"What about her?" asked the older Wilbur worried, pointing at Emely.

The two time travelers struggled up and placed the young super hero between them in the back seat. Violet patted gently Emely's cheek to wake her, but it didn't work.

Suddenly a yellow, hot light illuminated the capsule! Only now, they looked outside.

The sight was more than impressive! The whole city was surrounded by a shimmering purple force field. Inferno did their best to destroy the rest of the platform! One massive explosion after the other - it looked almost like gigantic fireworks!

The debris crashed on the force field and slid down its edges. The rest of the platform was now only a single burning ball of fire.

Meanwhile, the sky cleared up again, only remnants of the bright energy stream were drifting across the sky.

The last little remains of the platform slid down the force field, and drew a burning trail of fire and smoke behind them, so that they looked almost like thousands of small shooting stars!

On the ground the population of Todayland was observing this spectacular, magical show, and when the shimmering purple dome above the city finally disappeared, the fascination finally gave way immense relief and enthusiasm! It was over! The city was saved!

People began to cheer! After life-threatening extreme situations the brain releases more endorphins then usual, which means that after a danger people get into a real pleasure rush. The people now began to laugh, and fell into each others arms in relief. There was a real party atmosphere!

Only Cornelius and Franny didn't dare to be relieved now. After all, they had no idea how their son was doing... They had no choice but to wait.

In the capsule, however, there was jubilation and relief.

"We did it! We have triumphed and survived!" cried the younger Wilbur and threw his arms up. His older version had nothing to add. He laid his head on the steering wheel and laughed in relief.

"Have you seen this? That was - I mean - that was - that is, that was just - incredible!" reeled Violet full of enthusiasm, and bobbed up and down on the bench. Wilbur laughed, but suddenly he stopped.

"Look who is back!" he said playfully.

"Medium!" Violet said surprised, and stroked the disheveled blond (and partly singed hair) out of the young super's face. The young super heroine had opened her eyes and looked around disoriented.

"What are you doing here?" She asked confused.

"We have saved you!" Wilbur said proudly. His older version turned back and smiled sympathetically.

"You are no longer on the platform, but in the rescue capsule..." Violet added explanatory.

"Platform? Capsule ...? What - how -... where - " Medium stammered, then she held her head with a pained face, "My brain! I think my head is going to explode!"

"We take you home as soon as possible" the older Wilbur assured. Medium only grunted in agreement. At that moment it occurred to Violet, that they still had another problem.

"Let's hope that Cobra doesn't use the time machine to change the time stream" she said, scared. She couldn't know that this issue had been solved already.

"Oh!" cried the older Wilbur irritated, "We wouldn't be here if he succeeded" he said annoyed. He was fed up that every time they had solved a problem, a new showed up, that brought them trouble again. He didn't want the current relief to be ruined. But some slight doubts left.

His younger self didn't care at the moment. He sprawled on the back seat and stretched happily.

"Aaah, when we are back home, I'll sleep for two days straight!"

"Oh yeah ..." Violet agreed with a sigh, "We must have been on our feet for twenty hours already" she added with a yawn.

"Not so fast!" interrupted the older Wilbur, "First you'll have a clarifying discussion with Dad!" he said to his younger self, and he didn't even bother to hide his sadistic pleasure. He chuckled meanly, while Wilbur moved uncomfortable in the back seat.

"That's going to be funny..." he muttered.

"It wasn't your fault ..." Violet said with a sympathetic smile. She was firmly decided to take all the blame on herself to protect Wilbur from any trouble ... she had no idea that Wilbur had exactly the same plan.

He rested his head on his hand and smiled at Violet.

"Yes, but - ..." he began, but suddenly, after a random glance through the back window, Violet suddenly let out a frightened scream! With all her strength she pushed herself with both feet away from the rear window, against the driver's seat, so that it shut and the older Wilbur was trapped! His right knee was strongly pressed against the dashboard, so that his knee cap popped out! He screamed in pain and cursed. He had survived this terrible day unharmed, and now his knee should be ruined?

"What's up?" he cried angrily.

Violet had stretched out both hands and formed a force field around the small capsule. Suddenly there was a violent explosion that shook the capsule despite the force field!

It all happened so fast that the younger Wilbur only now had the opportunity to see what was out there. The huge red eye was what he saw first! It was one of Cobra's giant robots, whom they already met on the platform! One of it must have survived the crash when if fell from the platform! This enormous thing was flying with an alarming speed behind the small capsule and prepared to fire another laser shot!

"Fly faster!" Wilbur cried almost hysterically to his older self.

"What is it?" roared the older Wilbur back in annoyance.

"Robot! Robot! Robot!" Violet screamed, while the red robotic eye now filled almost the entire back window!


	45. Chapter 44

Exhausted and breathless, but still happy the older Violet lay on the roof of a skyscraper in the center of the city. Her landing hadn't been very elegant, but after all she was invisible, so nobody had noticed her. There was still no electricity, but that was less of a problem, and somebody else could take care of that.

Relaxed, Violet lay on her back and looked at the sky. The last gentle waves of energy spread across the starry sky, as if it was carried by a kind of wind, only to disappear slowly. Around them she heard the jubilant cries of the citizens of Todayland, who they had just saved. Yet no one would thank her or the other team members, they wouldn't get a medal, an award or distinctions - but that it also wasn't so bad. All they got was the knowledge, that they had done everything in their power to protect these people, so that they could continue to live their lives.

That alone gave Vi an incredible satisfaction, even if no one would ever know about their heroic deeds.

Violet suddenly heard a noise that seemed to come closer and suddenly Flame landed beside her.

When Violet had stood up, the two hugged each other, laughing

"We did it!" Violet exclaimed happily.

"That was perfect teamwork!" Flame cried enthusiastically. But then Violet suddenly broke from the embrace.

"What about Emely?" she asked anxiously.

"Don't worry ..." Flame calmed her with a backslapping, "She's very exhausted, but she's fine. She will probably need a few days to get back on her feet again."

"Thank God!" Violet cried, and breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, they both heard a muffled, distant thunder, that seemed to come closer, but neither of them attached great importance to this noise.

"By the way, it was your past self, who helped us to get out of there" said Flame, while she took off her mask and ran her hand through her dark blond hair, "I've completely forgotten how brave you are!" she added, and gave Vi a playful push with her elbow.

That really abashed Violet. Somehow it was important to her that Flame took her seriously and respected her. She didn't often get praise of this kind. She did not quite know how she should respond, so she replied with sarcasm.

"Yeah, I'm totally brave! I have - !" before Violet could end the sentence, she gasped, her eyes widening in horror.

"What is -"

"Pssst!" Vi interrupted her niece, grabbed her arm and made them both invisible.

Only now Flame registered the regular, muffled roar. She looked in the direction where the strange noise came from and froze. Among them, at a major intersection in the center, one of Cobra's giant robots stomped along! With every step it left large craters in the asphalt. People cried when they saw the gigantic machine, and took flight in panic.

The robot was very dented - the fall from the platform had affected it greatly, but it was still working.

But compared to the situation they had just mastered, this robot seemed like nothing to Flame. They only had to hurry to knock this thing out, before it would hurt anyone.

Only then it occurred to her ... this thing was not running in a wild destructive rage. It stomped determined in one direction, and its red eye looked around, constantly searching, just as if it had still a task to fulfill...

"Oh no!" she heard Violet crying beside her, almost hysterical.

"Come on, we'll manage that!" reassured Flame, who thought that her aunt's reaction was greatly exaggerated. But suddenly she felt how her (still invisible) and chin was grabbed and pushed into a different direction.

Flame wanted to defend first, but then she saw a large, bulky object racing across the sky ... It was the other robot, which had fallen off the platform. And only at a second glance it became clear to her that the small object in front of the robot was the rescue capsule, in which the time traveler, Robinson Junior and her sister were!

At that moment, the robot at the bottom also discovered the capsule. With much roar, it started its jet engines and slowly lifted off the ground with increasing speed, to catch up with the capsule. On its way it dragged along a thick, smelly smoke tail.

"Oh crap ..." Flame hissed. Today the problems just didn't want to end!

* * *

Meanwhile, the situation in the rescue capsule had not improved. The robot had opened fire and Vi had big trouble to maintaining the protective shield around the shaky capsule. With clenched teeth, she tried to protect them from the shots. In addition, the robot came closer and closer! It was already stretching out its huge claw for the little capsule! If it had them in its clutches, they had a real problem.

"Fly faster!" cried the young Wilbur to his older self with emphasis. His older self, however, was still stuck between the driver's seat (on which Violet was still sitting) and the steering wheel, so that he couldn't move.

"Well, how?" his older version snapped back, while trying to free himself. Wilbur just took the matter into his own hands. He had enough room to manage pulling Violet aside and was able to sit up in the driver's seat again.

When he was free again, his older version then tried push the pedal to the metal, but the pain in his knee was too strong. He cried out in agony, while the capsule suddenly steered sharply downward. Neither the robot nor the two time travelers had expected that. The robot continued his flight straight forward, before it corrected the course and followed them. Now they were at least a few seconds ahead.

"What are you doing?" cried the young Wilbur startled when he saw how his older self slipped in the passenger seat, his face contorted with pain. Instead to respond, his older version grabbed him by his T-shirt and pulled him roughly to the driver's seat.

"Your turn now!"

At first Wilbur stared shocked at his older self, but he overcame the shock quickly and grabbed the steering wheel firmly with both hands. This thing was not very different in its control from the time machine. Wilbur increased the speed and tried to shake off the robot by flying in a wild zig-zag course. But they were still continuously hit by the laser shots, which always shook the capsule and drifted off from its course.

"Vi, everything okay with you back there?" Wilbur cried.

Before Vi could answer, they were hit by two heavy shots again, one hit the force field so unprofitable that they began to rotate wildly. Wilbur needed his whole strength to bring the capsule back under control.

"Everything okay so far!" Violet finally answered, breathlessly, "Only that there are two robots now!"

"What!" Wilbur cried aghast. One robot was a bad enough, but two of them?

His older version looked back. Indeed! Close behind the first robot flew a second one, that also fired on the small capsule. Most of the shots went past, thanks to the flying skills of the younger Wilbur, but they couldn't continue this chase forever.

Then he had a very disturbing thought, and a look at the fuel indicator on the dashboard confirmed it. The fuel gauge was already on reserve. It was only a rescue capsule, which was not designed for long flights. If they didn't solve the problem soon and landed, they would crash.

"We're almost out of fuel!" he cried uneasily, "Does anyone have a plan?"

"We could try to get rid of them in the city!" replied his younger self determined. He planned to shake off the two robots in the winding street canyons of Todayland.

"Too dangerous!" contradicted his older version.

"Uhm -" Violet began from the back, "I have no plan, but maybe they have one!"

The older Wilbur turned back abruptly. Between the robots and the shots, that raced past the capsule, he discovered a fire ball that dragged along a burning tail and a purple shimmering sphere.

"Who?" He heard his younger self on driver's seat asking curiously.

"Invisigirl and Inferno!" Violet cried relieved. And she realized that it was much easier to call her Invisigirl as to say her own name.

"You better focus on flying!" Wilbur's older self ordered, rushed.

Meanwhile, Violet and Flame and their best to destroy the two robots, or at least to change their course for the future, but it was useless!

After all, the robots were fire resistant and Violet couldn't shoot her force fields, because she had to deactivate her force field for that, which meant that she would no longer be able to fly. They had to think of something else!

"What do we do now?" cried Violet over the noise of the shots, the engines and airstream. While she flew closer to Flame, she made herself visible. She had hardly uttered the words, when her force field was hit by a few heavy laser shots, so that the shiny purple ball (which she still could not control particularly well) drifted away! It was hard, but Vi managed to bring the sphere back under control again, but now she flew a around 60 feet below the robots and the capsule. Of course, she thought to turn herself invisible again.

"Are you okay?" Flame cried immediately.

"Yeah, I'm fine!"

Vi had completely forgotten that the robots had it in for her. Their mission was to destroy her -

And right then Violet suddenly had a brilliant idea!

"Inferno! I have a plan!" with these words, Violet made herself visible again and headed right in front of the second robot. The giant machine fixed her with its bright red eye. Then, Vi steered the sphere slowly from right to left - the robot followed her with its eye and stretched out one of his claws!

Suddenly, Violet flew steep down with an insane speed, to fly with a curve in the direction of the city. The robot didn't hesitate - it activated more engines and chased after the purple sphere!

"One robot follows Violet!" said the older Wilbur in the capsule, and he didn't quite know whether or not he should be happy about it that they had one robot less behind them.

"And the other robot follows the me ...!" said the young Violet behind him, still taking care to maintain her force field against the shots.

"I think I know what she's up to do!" said the younger Wilbur and suddenly he also steered the capsule straight down into the depths. It happened so unexpectedly that his older version clung to the seat in shock.

"Now hold on!" said Wilbur and switched a gear higher, while the robot was still hot on their heels! There was only one way to get rid of the robots; and therefore they needed an uninhabited area, so nobody would get hurt. But they didn't have much fuel to get far away enough from the city...

He only hoped that the older Violet had the same plan then he did.

Wilbur controlled the capsule directly into the city.

"What are you doing?" asked his older version alarmed.

"Quiet - I know what to do!"

When they reached the city, Wilbur was glad that there were no other flying objects, such as cars or transport bubbles around at the moment. The small capsule raced between the houses, closely followed by the giant, clunky robot, which was not easy to shake off. But that also was not what Wilbur intend - he even wanted, that it followed them.

Although it was dark, and they raced incredibly fast through the city, they could see that many people were on the road.

Suddenly, around the next bend, the landscape opened and revealed the great lake of Todayland.

Wilbur pushed the gas pedal and accelerated the small capsule, racing over the open sea!

But the next problem was already there. The capsule suddenly became slower!

"Uh-oh!"

"What!" Violet shouted from behind, who had to watch how the robot came closer very fast.

"We've got no fuel!"

Yet they were still fast enough so that Wilbur was hoping that they would do it with the rest of speed.

Just then the electricity began to work again! One building after the next began to shine, and the flickering bright lights of the towers reflected on the lake, that was as smooth as glass. If they hadn't been in such a precarious position, the sight would have knocked them for a loop.

In the back light Wilbur could see a dark, round silhouette in the distance and a small purple object in front of it - and both seemed to race right towards them. He felt relief, but then again he got aware that the most difficult part was yet to come.

"Is that -" the older Wilbur began incredulously.

"Guys!" Violet cried hastily from behind, "You should come up with something! Now!" she urged, while the robot came closer; it had stretched out its claws for them again. It was only a matter of seconds until it was able to grab Violet's force field and with that the capsule!

Meanwhile, the older Violet chased rapidly over the lake, so that the water splashed to both sides - and with the other robot in tow!

"We have to dodge!" cried the older Wilbur.

"Not yet!" replied his younger self and grabbed the steering wheel tighter.

"Dodge! Dodge!" Squealed his older version on the passenger seat. Wilbur, meanwhile, felt how his hands began to sweat.

"Right or left?" he then asked.

"What?"

"Right or left?"

His older version was obviously overstressed.

"Eh - eh - right!"

They could already see Violet, and she was fast approaching - they had only a few seconds!

"Right, right, right!" screamed the old Wilbur and clung to the seats.

Wilbur narrowed his eyes, ready to steer right. In that very moment, Medium's eyes suddenly shot open, they shone brightly from the inside, her entire body reared up, and with a loud, echoing voice she exclaimed:

"Left!"

Without thinking, Wilbur tore the steering wheel to the left!

Violet could see from the backseat how the two force fields passed only a few centimeters from each other!

The robots, however, were not that nimble. They raced right towards each other, and it was too late for braking! When they realized their situation, their usual huge red eyes became small. Then they clashed with an incredible force. There was a huge explosion, that looked like huge fireworks from the distance. The thunder of the collision was heard throughout the entire city.

However, the capsule landed in the water again. Wilbur could not bring the vehicle under control and it crashed, not particularly gentle. The whole thing happened so fast that none of them registered what was happening exactly.

Suddenly there was water everywhere, horrible cold and dark water!

Wilbur had totally lost his orientation, but suddenly he realized how he was strongly seized and dragged upwards to the surface from his older version. Vi and Medium were already there and the capsule swam on its side on the surface. Since it was a rescue capsule, it didn't sink like the time machine. But the glass roof was gone, it must have broke during the impact. That also explained why they all had landed in the water. Now the capsule was half filled with water and was lying one the side.

Around them the remains of the destroyed robots splashed into water.

Without saying a word - speaking was difficult in the cold water anyway - they swam to the rescue capsule and climbed onto one of its wings. Vi helped Medium, who was still very weak.

Wilbur was bitterly cold and the slight breeze didn't make it any more pleasant. Nevertheless, he was overjoyed! They had made it and they were all well - more or less - they were soaked and frozen. His older self was caring for his damaged leg with a pained face. But Wilbur didn't care - he was nevertheless satisfied beyond measure.

He looked at Violet. Her teeth were chattering from cold, but still she returned his happy smile. Medium, however, lay on the wing with closed her eyes.

"How long w-will they need for g-getting out of here?" asked Violet, while she tried to rub warm.

"No idea ..." replied the old Wilbur annoyed. Even if the electricity was working again, it did not mean that there were no more problems ... he feared that they would sit here for hours probably.

But even that could not dampen his younger self's good mood. He just couldn't stop to smile happily.

He looked towards the city, that shone bright in all its glory again. By a hair it would have been wiped out completely. But thanks to them it had been saved!

Suddenly Medium moved. She looked exhausted, and you could see that she had terrible headaches.

"No offense, but I won't wait that long ..." she muttered, rubbing her temples - and suddenly she was gone!

* * *

Shocked, Dash and Sibylle had observed the spectacle in the sky from their living room. It was an eerie setting. The city was completely dark, due to the power black out - even in her own home the light did not work. Therefore they had placed candles everywhere.

Only when the large purple dome over the city disappeared, Sibylle dared to speak again.

"That was Violet's force field!"

"Oh, nonsense!" Dash contradicted, "It's never been so huge!"

"Sure it was!" Siyblle cried, and the sound of her voice became a little annoyed, "What should it be otherwise?"

Then her mood suddenly changed and she began to rub her hands restlessly.

"I just hope that they are okay..."

"You don't even know whether the kids have something to do with that" Dash objected again to calm his wife. But Sibylle ignored it; for some time already, she had the feeling that their daughters secretly used their super powers to hunt criminals down and thereby constantly got themselves in dangerous situations, without her or Dash knowing anything about it.

"I just wish they would tell us when they start so dangerous missions," she continued restlessly and started to pace up and down the kitchen, "I wouldn't even be mad at them. What makes me angry is that they are doing this secretly behind our back, rather than being honest with us!"

Dash leaned casually against the door frame of the door, that connected the kitchen and living room.

"You're worrying about nothing" he tried to calm her, "They are certainly just as baffled as we are about what just happened there."

Suddenly he heard a silent noise behind him. He turned around and saw Emely, who suddenly stood in the living room, wearing a blue super hero outfit and a mask. She was soaking wet, with seaweed in the dripping hair. Dash was first shocked, but happy to see her, then it occurred to him that Sibylle would give her a dressing-down. He gritted his teeth and tried to show Emely with a wave to quietly go upstairs to her room, so Sibylle wouldn't discover her.

But after the first step Emely collapsed already - but before she touched the ground, her father was there to catch her.

"Honey!" He called his wife. Sibylle came from the kitchen, alarmed. When she saw her unconscious daughter, she jumped over the couch and knelt down beside her, while Dash placed a couch pillow under Emely's head.

"M! Sweety! What happened?" She cried, worried about her daughter, and stroked her wet blonde hair. Emely opened her eyes halfway.

"I have nothing to do with it, I've seen nothing, I know nothing, I spent the whole evening at -"

She stopped when her mother took off her mask and showed it to her. Emely had completely forgotten that she was still wearing her hero suit.

"Oh ... okay ... maybe I do have something to do with it..." she confessed. Then she held her aching head. "I have just teleported thousands of gigawatts of pure energy into space," she continued, and despite the pain, she couldn't hide a happy, proud grin.

"Really?" Dash said enthusiastically. But Emely's smile disappeared.

"My head hurts ..." she whispered silently. Dash raced off right away, to be back not even a second later with a cooler, which he placed on her forehead.

"What about Flame and Violet?" Sibylle asked worried.

"They are fine..." Emely said with closed eyes. After a while she opened her eyes again and looked at her mother.

"Are we in trouble now?"

"Of course not ..." Sibylle said with an affectionate smile. She was just happy that their kids were safe and sound and doing well.

"But we're still going to have a serious talk with you and your sister ..." Dash said, smiling. Emely returned the smile and closed her eyes.

"I already expected something like that..."


	46. Chapter 45

It didn't take long until the other three teenagers were rescued from the lake. Vi hadn't even noticed how the helicopter approached because it flew completely soundless (probably because it had no rotor blades).

One after another was pulled up from the wing of the rescue capsule into the helicopter, where they were wrapped in warm blankets.

From the shore Violet's older version observed the rescue. She was relieved that they all seemed to be well; then she went to the side street, where she had left her bike. Of course she was invisible, finally, not everyone needed to see how terrible she looked right now, with her dress torn, all the scrapes, bruises and disheveled hair ... and barefoot.

The invisibility of everything she touched had another advantage: she could change clothes in the side street, completely undisturbed. Fortunately, she had been shopping with Liz before, so she just put on the dress, which she had bought for the Robinson ball. Unfortunately, she had no fitting shoes, but only black ballerinas who did not fit to the dress at all. But what could she do? It was better then running around without any shoes.

Then she began to half sliding, half carrying the broken bike to the lakeside.

On the way her relief and euphoria disappeared and gave way to frustration. Every single bone hurt, her hair was ruined, her shoes were gone and she just looked terrible. She would have to come up with an excuse. Perhaps she could say, that she fell down the stairs when the power blackout began.

A restlessness began to spread out in her for some reason. She would have liked to smoke a cigarette to calm down, but her bag was still in the secret hiding of the Incredibles ... and that annoyed her. So she also had no cell phone to call their parents or Dash, or Jack to pick her up ... and that annoyed her even more.

Apart from that she had not eaten the whole day, and now she felt queasy from hunger too. She had a chocolate bar somewhere, which she had bought together with Liz, so Vi rummaged in one of the cartons and she indeed found the chocolate. But before she knew it, seemingly within seconds, the entire bar disappeared... and Violet did not feel any better. Now she would even get fat at the end of the day...

When Vi reached the shore, everything was full of people. That bothered her even more for some reason. What if she met Lucy Duncan here or any other girls from school? Step by step Vi's mood became worse, especially because some people gave her quite surprised looks. Did she really looked that awful?

Nevertheless, she put down her bike and pushed her way through the crowd of curious onlookers to check whether the others were fine.

* * *

On the other side of the crowd Liz and Pete walked hand in hand. Curious, they watched the large contingent of police and ambulances that were in the center of the crowd.

They had no idea what was going on, so they asked some of the other passers-by, but none could give them an answer.

Suddenly Pete discovered Wilbur's mother in the crowd. He ran up to her, dragging Liz behind him.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Robinson?"

Franny turned around. Pete was shocked a little because she looked very pale and exhausted.

"Oh, hi Pete," she greeted friendly.

"Um, do you know what happened?"

"Oh, just a small technical defect," Franny said soothingly, after all she couldn't say what had really happened, "But don't worry, the problem has been solved now!"

Suddenly a large helicopter flew from the lake and landed in some distance away from them.

"Would you excuse me?" Franny said quickly and ran to the helicopter, without waiting for a reply.

Pete and Liz looked after her, wondering.

"Okay ..." Liz began finally, "That was... not very informative."

* * *

From top Violet could excellently see that the lake shore was full of people; police officers, photographers and numerous onlookers were everywhere. She could also see that a small area was cordoned off and in its middle stood the time machine.

The three teens were wrapped in thick blankets. After a few minutes, the helicopter went deeper and landed on a meadow by the lake.

Right after the helicopter had landed, a slim, dark-haired woman lunged at the older Wilbur, embraced him and overwhelmed him with kisses. Vi felt how the younger Wilbur beside her tensed.

That was probably his mother. Violet had only seen her briefly, when they had been in older Wilbur's room.

The older Wilbur tried to push Franny gently away from him, when Wilma suddenly ran towards him and jumped on his leg!

The leg, mind you, which was hurt.

"Wilbur!" she cried happily. Wilbur gave, however, a cry of pain in return after which Wilma let go of his leg immediately.

"Oh my God, what have they done to you?" Franny asked, very concerned suddenly.

"Don't panic, it's just my knee..." Wilbur brought out, with clenched teeth. At that moment two robot-paramedics already arrived with a barrow.

"Oh, don't you think this is a bit exaggerated?" he asked, while the paramedics helped him onto the borrow. After all, his kneecap only popped out, but they acted like he had torn off his leg. He really could have hobbled the short distance to the ambulance. At that moment Cornelius arrived at the helicopter. When he saw that his son was lying on a barrow, he became pale.

"Don't worry, nothing happened!" Wilbur cried, while the paramedic-bots brought him to the ambulance on the flying barrow.

Only now Franny discovered the younger Wilbur, who was just climbing out of the helicopter.

"Aha!" She shouted angrily, putting her hands akimbo and built up right in front of him. She was ready to give him a proper dressing down, but then she discovered the girl, who climbed after out of the helicopter, and Franny was taken aback.

Wilbur used the opportunity to speak first.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! That's not fair! When I return to my time, I'll get another rubdown from your past self! If you scold me now, I get twice of trouble for the same thing! And that's unfair, right? But if you insist to scold me now, then I want you to sign me an explanation that I already got my rubdown, so that your past self - "

He had always been good with talking, Franny realized once again, annoyed. She was about to interrupt her son from the past, when the girl suddenly began to speak.

"That's all my fault, Mr. Robinson. I broke into your house to steal the time machine and accidentally kidnapped your son!"

"And how did you got into the garage?" Cornelius asked, coming closer; he had a certain suspect.

"The door was open -" Violet began innocently, but only when she saw that Wilbur became red suddenly and gritted his teeth, she realized that she got him into big trouble with these words. She tried to revise it as fast as possible.

"Erm, I mean -"

"Yes, I see, the dear Sir is absolutely innocent!" Franny interrupted severely, folding her arms. Violet felt so very sorry for Wilbur, who now drooped guiltily.

They both now expected to get a sturdy tongue-lashing, but Wilbur's parents remained silent.

Franny gave Cornelius a challenging glance, but he shook his head and returned the look. Franny raised her eyebrows and then left without saying a word. This performance fascinated Wilbur over and over again. When it was about to punish him, his parents had developed a seemingly telepathic connection that allowed them to communicate without talking.

When Franny was gone Cornelius examined the two young teenagers and crossed his arms.

"We need to talk!"

Wilbur flinched imperceptibly and gulped when he heard his father's voice. Still drooping, he came up to him.

"Not you, I mean her," his father said sternly. Wilbur gritted his teeth and out of the corners of his eyes he looked over to Violet. Without protest she followed Cornelius. They walked away, until they were out of Wilbur's sight.

Wilbur bit his lip. She had to go through this alone ... But still he had a bad feeling because he wasn't able to help her.

Cornelius and Violet walked silently for a while, until there were not so many people around them.

"Mr. Robinson, I'm all so terribly sorry!" Violet exclaimed suddenly, because she couldn't bear the silence any longer.

"I hope so!" he said, and he didn't even try to suppress his anger, "What were you thinking?"

They had stopped close to the lake shore. Violet stared at the ground.

"I don't know... it seemed like a good idea at the time... " she mumbled meekly. The situation was really unpleasant. Her face was feeling hot, her ears seemed to burn and her hands were sweating.

"Fine, you wanted to prevent to get frozen ..." Cornelius began again, "Didn't you think about the consequences? Did it never come to your mind that your existence would have ended right at the instant when you would have saved your past version?"

Violet frowned questioningly.

"When you'd prevented your past self from getting deep frozen, I would have never saved you and so the Violet, who travels back in time to save her previous version - and that is you - would never exist." he continued, and while he spoke he remembered why he had destroyed the time machines... it was just way too confusing.

Now the dark haired girl seemed to understand. Her gaze became empty and she looked confused out on the lake.

"You mean... if my plan had been successful, I would have wiped out my own existence in the end?"

"Exactly!" Cornelius said angrily and folded his arms, "And to make matters even worse, you have also endangered my son!"

But Violet didn't really listen. She was pondering. It sounded logical. Very logical, actually... she really could have thought about this herself. She felt terrible all of a sudden, more terrible than at any time before at this day. Her plan had been absolutely not thought through! It was a terrible plan, which would have been completely useless and on top of that she had endangered, not only her own but countless other lives.

And if this wasn't enough already she had broken into the house of the man, who had saved her life! What kind of super hero was she?

She felt so shabby and miserable that she could not hold back the tears any longer.

"I'm so sorry ..." she sobbed, her legs gave in and she sat down on the ground and cried bitterly.

Cornelius immediately got a bad conscience. He should be mad at her, but when he saw this poor girl in her deep despair, he couldn't help but feel pity. Especially in light of her special situation.

He squatted in front of her and put his hand soothingly on her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, nothing bad has happened ..." he began, "On the contrary, apparently it's due to you that Cobra could be stopped in time."

It seemed, however, not to work particularly well, Violet was still crying heart-rending.

"I'm so sorry that I broke into your house ... you save my life and that's the way I show my gratitude!" she sobbed.

"Well, you didn't really broke in..." Cornelius was hoping it would reassure Violet. After all, the door had been open. And that hadn't been her fault.

"And I'm sorry that I have put everyone's life at stake just because I was so selfish!"

"Well, Cobra wanted to destroy the city anyway, independent from you!"

"Stop sympathizing!" Violet cried at him suddenly, "There is no excuse for what I did..."

Cornelius sighed. The poor kid was already making enough reproaches, so he didn't want to make her feel even worse.

It took a while until Violet calmed down again.

"Everything okay again ...?"

She shrugged with a wry smile. Her eyes were still puffy from crying and her breathing was still not going regularly.

"Wait a moment," Cornelius said, then he got up and went in search for a certain person.

* * *

While Cornelius was talking to Violet, Wilbur went to his older self, who was treated in one of the floating ambulance cars. His mother and Wilma were there too. Wilbur put his hands in his pockets and leaned casually against the ambulance. The nurse was getting ready to set the knee again. When she turned around, however, she had a large pair of scissors in her hand and was about to cut open older Wilbur's jeans.

"Stop! What are you doing?" Said the older Wilbur in panic suddenly and held his hands protectively over his pants.

"I need to get to your knee..." the nurse said, "And I can't roll up the pants that high..."

"This is a designer jeans! You won't cut that for sure!" Wilbur protested determined. Franny and the younger Wilbur exchanged a skeptical glance. Both had never thought that he would develop that way one day.

"Well, fine. Then I try to set the knee cap blind," said the nurse irritable, rolled up her sleeves and began work the knee with both hands.

"Ouch, ouch ouch ...!" Wilbur cried after a few seconds, and waved the nurse off, "All right, all right ... then cut it up!"

When the nurse had cut the jeans open to the knee, Wilma made a wry face.

"There's no blood at all!" she said confused, almost disappointed.

"How boring!" said the younger Wilbur and grimaced. Wilma then imitated this expression perfectly.

"Yes, booooring!" she said, folding her arms. Franny and the nurse started laughing.

"But it still hurts like hell ...!" growled the older Wilbur annoyed, "Nice to see that my injury contributes to the general amusemen-aaaaaah!" with a loud crack the nurse had set the patella again. And immediately afterwards, she began to wrap a supporting bandage around his knee.

"Couldn't you warn me?" Wilbur moaned.

"You were just so nicely distracted..." the nurse said with a grin, without looking at him.

"Can I play football with the thing?" Wilbur asked, when the nurse was finished with the bandage. He lifted his leg and bent it a few times to test how he could move with the bandage. The nurse just laughed.

"You should look for another sport, kid," she said, while she packed her medical bag, "Chess for example?"

"Why football at all?" asked the younger Wilbur, wondering.

"Because of the girls!" replied his older self, as if this was the only reason why anybody would do sport at all.

"My brother is a quarterback!" Wilma said proudly.

"Really?" replied the younger Wilbur, pretending to be impressed.

His older version got up and slipped out of the ambulance, while Franny held his arm. He tried to weight the leg, but it was still painful, so he hobbled off a few steps from the ambulance before it finally closed its door and drove off.

"So, my sweety," Franny said and picked up Wilma, "Let's go to search for Daddy and Carl!"

Then the two disappeared into the crowd.

The older Wilbur waited until his mother was out of sight before he began.

"Let sum it up again: Violet Parr is a super hero from the past ...?"

This question hit Wilbur like a flash. Now he felt sorry that he had given away Violet's secret. He looked at the ground and said nothing. That wasn't necessarily true... his older self just pieced things together himself.

He was upset and confused ... somehow everything concerning Violet had completely changed; nothing was the same anymore, or was it? It was like he was seeing her with completely fresh eyes now. What was going on in a person, who had been frozen for so many years?

He startled from his thoughts when he suddenly heard someone calling his name. He looked in the direction where the voice came from and discovered Pete, who waved at him.

"Okay, time to go, kiddo!" he said hastily, and gave his younger self a slight nudge.

"Hey! Isn't that Pete? Hi Pete!" cried young Wilbur and waved.

"Shove off now!" hissed his older version and pushed him away, then he went to meet his friend.

* * *

After a while Cornelius finally found the person he was looking for.

"Hey, Violet!" he said. She turned around. He was startled a little. Her usually accurate appearance looked pretty devastated.

"Looks like it was a tough battle ..." he stated.

"Oh, don't get me started on that! I'm glad it's finally over ..." said the older Violet. She looked exhausted and stressed. So Cornelius decided to come right to the issue for what he was here.

"So .. I can assume that you are fully informed?"

Violet nodded.

"So you know, that we have 'visitors' here...?" he asked carefully, because he couldn't estimate how much she knew exactly.

"Yeah, yeah ... Thanks to your great time machine!" said Violet, as if it was self-evident. A short silence followed, because Cornelius did not exactly know how to formulate the next question.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Violet asked instead.

"Yes, please."

"No problem, Mr. Robinson, this will be done immediately. I'll teach the young lady a lesson on time traveling!" Violet said, rubbing her hands.

"But don't be too harsh on her..." Cornelius said, a little worried.

"Oh, you know you can never be strict enough with yourself!" she said and then made her way to her younger self.

Cornelius sighed and went back to work. He still had to fix the time machine once more.

* * *

Violet found her younger version, sitting depressed on a meadow close to the water, the beige blanket was pulled up to the ears, so that Violet almost didn't recognize her.

She went to her younger version and sat down beside her.

"Hey... Are you okay?"

The younger Violet shrugged, looking over the lake. It was still obvious, that she had cried previously.

"Do you still want to change the time ...?"

"No ..." Violet replied, and frowned annoyed. By now she had enough of time travels for the rest of her life. But then another thought struck her.

"Why did you never try to change the time?" she asked her older version.

"And I could ask you why you did it ..." was the reply.

"I wanted my life back -" Violet began, and she almost started crying again.

"Man, THIS is your life!" interrupted the older Violet briskly, "Isn't that good enough for you?"

Then she pointed at the breathtaking skyline of the city, which was glowing in all colors of the rainbow. The reflection was shimmering in the peaceful lake.

"Just look around! You were frozen for 32 years in a device that was designed for just the half of the time ...! Against all odds you have been brought back to life, and you want to throw this away so recklessly? "

She carefully observed her younger version. She had lowered her gaze and looked at the floor, thoughtfully.

"... Did Mr. Robinson tell you that you have been clinically dead for 3 minutes before they were able to revive you?"

"No ..." the younger Violet whispered barely audible.

"I think your brain got damaged! Don't you see what a miracle it is that you may live? It's a gift!" the older Violet said in awe and emphasis, "And you've got nothing better to do but to hang in the past with your mind, instead to concentrate on the good things that you may experience!" she stopped for a moment, because feared to start crying herself otherwise.

"For example, you have an absolutely fantastic family!"

Her younger version suddenly jerked her head towards her, and pushed the lower lip forward, insulted.

"I know!" she mumbled, offended. After all it was HER family!

"Yes, but you should better appreciate them, as they no longer take you for granted" said her older version casually. Violet, however, felt disturbed by this precocious, smart-alecky attitude.

"... And all the other things! Have you ever noticed that people are much less superficial in the future? They are friendly, courteous and helpful. No matter where you are...I guess it's because all those crazy inventions have really improved their lives, so they are much happier. Everybody can do what he can do best and nobody is forced to work on something he doesn't like. And the political development! Just imagine, there is no single dictatorship in the world anymore! And terrorism is almost extinct! And there is neither AIDS nor starving in Africa. Would you have imagined this would happen one day?"

Violet wanted to say something, though she didn't exactly know what - but her older version continued anyway.

"And Liz! I've never had a best friend like her. And - "

"Who's Liz?" Her younger version interrupted unnerved, simply to stop her earlier version from further ranting.

"Well... Elizabeth" the older Violet replied, "... Elizabeth Beckett?" she tried to help her younger version.

"This weird blonde one?" Violet asked, almost disgusted, while she remembered in the very shy girl.

"What do you mean with 'weird blond one'?" the older Violet protested, putting her hands akimbo, "I'm friends with her since the first day of school! I would die for this girl!"

"If you say so..." Violet said laconically, and shrugged. But then she remembered that she had never really given Liz a chance to get to know her...

Oh great, another thing to have a bad conscience about!

"Man, man, man, we are quite different!" noted her older version after a while.

"Thank God!" Violet murmured silently.

"What?" her older version asked slightly annoyed.

"Nothing!" Violet said with an exaggerated grin. Then she looked over the lake again. It was true... she had really focused only on negative things, and had used all her energy to find a way out of this situation, rather than settle and start a new life. Maybe her older version was right...

As if her older version could read minds, she began with a motherly tone:

"You got a second chance, and you may live in this incredibly great time ... Actually you should really be the happiest person on this planet."

"I know!" exclaimed the younger Violet frustrated, "I have no idea why I was so stupid ..." she continued, disappointed in herself.

"Well," said the old Violet pleased and stood up, "You just can't be as cool as I am!" she said, and stretched, but it was clear that she didn't mean it very serious.

At that moment the younger Wilbur came over to them.

"So, I go home now. After this day I deserved a nice, long bath." the older Violet said, trying to hide a yawn.

"Wait! I still have a question!" her younger version said hastily.

"You should never know too much about your own future," she replied suggestively.

"But it's important!" insisted the young Violet. Then she made an awkward pause, and looked over to Wilbur, who had sat beside her, as if she felt unpleasant that he was listening. But then she asked anyway:

"How do you get the volume in your hair?"

Both Wilbur and older Violet began to laugh.

"Be quiet, I wanna know!" she protested.

"That's pretty easy ..." her older version finally said with a grin, "The secret is ...", she began, looking around to both sides to make sure that no one was listening, "Beer!"

"Beer?" Wilbur and Vi asked at the same time, completely confused.

"I have to drink beer to get such beautiful hair?" Violet asked incredulously. Her older version started to laugh out loudly, holding her belly.

"How cute! You are so funny!" she exclaimed before she calmed down, "You shall not drink it, you moron, but you shall wash your hair with it!"

Vi and Wilbur changed skeptical glances. That sounded even more illogical for them.

"Well ..." her older version finally said, "See ya. And take care!"

"Bye..." the two time travelers replied. Vi's older version gave them a wave and then walked away.

"Was it bad?" Wilbur asked after a pause.

"Well... It was okay..." she replied, after all she had deserved a rubdown. But only then she realized that Mr. Robinson didn't really had the opportunity to scold her.

"I just started crying like crazy" said she bashfully and buried her face in the blanket.

"Really?" Wilbur asked sympathetically. Violet just gave a hum of approval.

"That's good," he said suddenly, "He gets weak when you start crying!"

Violet lifted her head and gave him a skeptical glance.

"Hey, 13 years of experience!" Wilbur continued proudly, patting his chest.

Violet started laughing, which made Wilbur feel much better too. But shortly after that she became serious again; she looked guiltily at the floor, while she fumbled on a blade of grass.

"But ... you could've been killed ..." she murmured. Wilbur almost feared she would start crying again.

"Oh nonsense! You're a superhero! you would've saved me... "

Violet felt not only honored by his confidence into her abilities, but flattered too. She didn't really know what to say, she only felt how her cheeks became warm. She couldn't resist a smile and gave Wilbur a shy glance.

He returned the smile charmingly, then he folded his hands behind his head and stretched out on the lawn.

Then they heard a small child's voice behind them.

One second later Wilma came along and ran around them, squeaking happily. Violet grabbed her suddenly and she placed the little girl on her lap. Wilbur would have never done something like that, he didn't really feel comfortable with this kid. But Violet acted completely natural. That was probably her experience of dealing with small children.

Unabashedly, the little girl grabbed a strand of Violet's hair.

"Hey, you like my hair?" Violet asked. Wilma replied with an affirmative sum.

"You have beautiful hair too! Are you styling it yourself?"

"Sometimes," replied the little girl, "and sometimes my mom and sometimes Carl ... and sometimes my brother"

Violet had to laugh out suddenly, when she imagined how the older Wilbur - this muscle-packed quarterback - coiffed of his little sister's hair. But when she saw Wilbur's face, she had to laugh even more.

"Really ...?" asked Wilbur, partly horrified, partly in disbelief, and with slight hint of disgust.

"Yes!" Wilma said proudly.

"Would you have ever thought that you would braid your little sister' hair one day?" Violet asked, laughing.

"To be honest ..." Wilbur began, taking a breath with a hiss, "I never expected to ever have a sister at all!"

Violet looked at him in surprise. She had thought that Wilma would be a little baby in their time, but now it seemed like she didn't exist at all!

"Well then ..." she began, "Congratulations!"

"Congratulations!" Wilma said with even more emphasis, throwing her arms up, then she turned to Violet, placed her hand next to her mouth and whispered into her ear, "It's his birthday today?"

The two time travelers laughed. Then Violet began a strange conversation with the little girl about how old they were, by showing each others age with their fingers. Meanwhile Wilbur lay on the side and watched this strange scene fascinated, yet skeptical. He had no idea what he should talk about with such a young person.

All of the sudden he had an idea. He jumped up on his feet.

"I'll be right back!" he said hastily, while he ran away.

"Oh, okay ..." said Violet. She and Wilma looked after him in surprise. Then the two looked at each other and shrugged.

* * *

Wilbur was hoping that she wasn't gone yet. But then he discovered her between the people. It was getting empty, yet there were still many people on the lake shore, who just enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere.

When Wilbur saw her, he called her.

"Wait! I must ask you something... "

The old Violet, who was on her way to her bike, turned around in surprise.

"What?"

"Why can't you stand each other?" Wilbur asked out of breath when he had reached her, although it was not what he actually wanted to ask. Yet it would be useful to know, so he wouldn't make the same mistakes like his older version. Violet hesitated for a moment, then her expression became angry.

"You tell me!" she said after a brief pause, with a bitter undertone. There was silence for a while.

"What did I do? I mean, what will I do ...?"

"Oh, nothing!" Violet said, annoyed and wanted to leave, but then she remembered that she probably wouldn't have a chance like that so soon again. So she turned around and stomped towards Wilbur, so that he had to back off a few steps.

"You ignore me since I'm here! You've never spoken a normal word to me! And you slag me off behind my back! All you - he...!" she corrected herself, and then took a deep breath to calm again.

Wilbur gulped and bit his lip, when he remembered that he had just made the decision to ignore Violet once and for all, before all this had happened. By a hair, he had almost became like his older version.

"Whatever ..." Violet said finally, annoyed and rubbed her sore neck. All she wanted was to go home, she already had enough problems for a single day.

"So ..." Wilbur began when Violet was about to say goodbye, "We'll probably never meet ever again, so I can be honest ..."

"Honest...?" Violet asked, confused. Would she now find out the reason why Wilbur Robinson had never given her a chance? Did he think she was too ugly? Or too bitchy?

Wilbur looked around briefly, then took her hand and pulled her a little further away to make sure that Violet's younger self couldn't see them.

"What I want to know is - I -" he began haltingly, "I mean ... hypothetically! Um ... do you think there would be a chance ... that ... you and me ... well, me and her... that we... well maybe ... somehow ..." It didn't happen often that Wilbur was at a loss for words.

"That what?" Violet asked, irritated by this incoherent babbling. She felt though, that she would normally be quite sure what he meant, but her brain was working very slow after all the effort and so she didn't get what this confused talk was about.

"I'm afraid I have a crush on you - on her - ... on Violet!"

Excitedly, Wilbur was awaiting her reaction. But there was none.

Violet looked at him completely blankly, as if he would speak a different language. It took a few seconds until her mind had decoded the content of the message. And when it was time, her reaction was rather restrained.

"Uh ... what ...? No..." Violet disagreed at first, as if Wilbur was trying to convince her, that the sky was green. Only gradually the importance of this confession became clear to her.

"No! You're lying!"

"I'm not!" Wilbur defended.

"Really now? You're kidding!" Violet cried incredulously.

"I certainly wouldn't ask if it wasn't true!" Wilbur said, suddenly very serious.

Violet stared at the boy in front of her for a while in silence, while the wheels in her head began to move slowly. What did this confession meant for her? Did the Wilbur from her time might feel the same way? No, before getting to such conclusions, she had to clarify one more thing!

"Since when?" she suddenly burst out. Wilbur jerked when she shouted at him. He looked away and thought for a moment.

"Since ... we met for the first time" he noted.

Violet needed a moment to remember, after all this meeting was a few years in the past for her.

"On the bus...?" she asked hesitantly. She couldn't find an earlier memory.

"No, the day before ..." Wilbur said uncomfortably. But Violet just stared at him quizzically.

"In front of your house ...?" he tried to help. Violet frowned but said nothing. She seemed to have totally forgotten this incident! Wilbur groaned inwardly. He had been so ashamed because of this accidental encounter, that he had decided to never ever talk to Violet. Back then (a few days ago) he would have liked to bury himself in a deep hole in the ground and had in all seriousness decided to ignore her for the rest of his life, only because he felt so embarrassed because of this incident. And she had just forgotten it! And now he even had to remind her on it!

"This is called an irony of fate," said a voice in his head suddenly, full of self-irony. He sighed heavily.

"While I was making a complete idiot out of myself...?" he only hoped that he didn't have to go into more details.

"Oooh ...!" Violet cried at once, when she recalled, "That was you! I had totally forgotten - "

She paused. The blood froze instantly in the veins. This contradicted all that had happened in the last few years, right? This meant that the Wilbur from her time had a crush on her too - or at least had had a crush!

Suddenly she felt sick. Had she been the one who had destroyed his feelings with her bitchy behavior? So it was also her fault, that they couldn't stand each other? All of a sudden the different emotions rained upon her; she couldn't decide what exactly she should feel. She felt guilty, she was angry, desperate, she would have liked to just laugh about all of it and at the same time she felt like crying her eyes out. And she was tired and starving. Somehow it suddenly seemed as if the world would have never been what it seemed. Then she suddenly felt somehow light and warm, and she realized that she was probably in shock.

"Well?" a voice asked expectantly beside her.

"... Well ...? Well what?" she asked totally bewildered.

"Oh man .." Wilbur muttered, rubbing his eyes. He wouldn't have thought that this conversation would be that difficult. That was almost more unbearable as talking with his older version. Violet shook her head, to clear her mind.

"What was the question again?"

"Do you think she likes me?" Wilbur asked, a little over-excited.

She had hardly heard the words, when the blood shot into Violet's head and she heard a pulsing noise in her ears. She began to waver.

"Are you okay ...?" Wilbur asked worried. All of a sudden Violet looked unhealthy pale.

"Huh? Yes, yes... What... ?" Violet asked, a little disoriented, "Oh right ... if she likes you..." she repeated, and then suddenly began to giggle totally ridiculous, so weird that Wilbur really thought, she had finally lost her mind.

Violet then cleared her throat and put her hands akimbo, grasping for self-control.

"I-I think you both come along quite well ..." she said with a bashful grin, but then her gaze suddenly became serious and she frowned, "But ..." she murmured.

"But what?" Wilbur urged.

Violet dropped her head to her chest for a moment. Man, it was so embarrassing to admit the truth! She felt how her cheeks turned red. And when she already felt so uncomfortable now, how would it be when she would talk to the Wilbur from her time?

"Yeah ... yeah..." was everything she was able to say.

"What...?" Wilbur asked, confused. Somehow her words did not really make sense.

"I imagine that there's a realistic chance." Violet said with a gulp, without looking at him.

"Really?" Wilbur exclaimed relieved.

"Yep ..."

Violet wanted to say more, but her brain went on strike again

She breathed deeply, to provide her brain with oxygen. She tried to concentrate and to put herself in her younger self's position... Finally, who knows exactly how he felt four years ago?

"But it needs time, I think ..." she continued. When she saw Wilbur's tensed expression, she continued: "I mean, she has just lost everything she had. From personal experience I would say that she needs to get her life back on track first, before she can get involved with other things ... But generally I don't see any problems ..." she ended with a impish smile.

Somehow she felt totally stupid to talk about her feelings, and yet not about her own feelings at the same time.

Wilbur, however, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, thank you!"

"No problem ..." Violet replied relaxed. Then she thought about, how fortunate her younger version's life would be in comparison to hers.

"Maybe you could make sure that she cares for more than only handbags and shoes..."

"Okay, I will ..." Wilbur laughed.

"And promise me to not become a conceited muscleman, who puts more interested in his hair than in anything else ..." Violet said, and gave Wilbur a slight nudge. Wilbur hesitated for a moment, then grinned.

"You both have a lot in common," he said and nudged her back. Violet frowned.

"Haha, really funny ..."

"I think you should go to him." Wilbur said after a while.

"As if I would care for what you think!" Violet said in a bitchy tone and crossed her arms stubbornly. Wilbur only raised one eyebrow.

"... Do you really think so?" She asked uncertainly, after a pause. Wilbur nodded.

"I wasn't really nice to him in the past years..." Violet said thoughtfully.

"Then you should apologize ..." Wilbur replied casually.

"Yeah for you it's easy to say... " Violet cried suddenly, throwing her arms up, "Besides, why should I apologize? He is the one who -" she paused when she noticed Wilbur's skeptical glance.

She took a deep breath and swallowed.

"O-kay ..." she finally said, but it sounded less than enthusiastic. Then she slowly left in search of Wilbur's older version.

"Good luck!" Wilbur said, waving.

"For you too!" Violet called back.

* * *

It wasn't long until Violet found Wilbur. Pete and Liz stood beside him. When Liz saw her from afar, she ran up to Violet, the strawberry red dress and her blond curls bouncing up and down.

Violet felt so strange. Within such a short time so incredibly much had changed... she didn't know how to deal with it all. Then suddenly she felt like crying - she didn't even know why exactly - because of the frustration of the day, because she was just looking terrible, every single of her bones was hurting, because of the realization that Wilbur Robinson had once had a crush on her and she had ruined it with her stupid behavior, or because she was constantly forced to lie to her best friend because of her super powers -

Suddenly Violet got a tight knot in her throat, when she realized that now Junior Robinson knew her secret! He knew her secret identity, but she still had to lie at Liz! This was so unfair! Violet held her breath, otherwise she had started crying her eyes out.

"What happened, honey?" Liz cried worried, while she embraced Violet motherly.

When Wilbur saw Violet and Liz, he went up to them. He was concerned. Perhaps something had happened, maybe something was wrong Medium...

"What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly.

All of a sudden Violet burst into tears. It was less because she heard his voice, but that she couldn't hold her breath any longer. But Liz interpreted this reaction differently.

"What? What has he done?" she asked, while she hugged Violet and stroked her head.

"What?" Wilbur asked, confused. What should he have to do with it?

"He knocked me over me with his car!" Violet suddenly sobbed, since she couldn't tell her friend what had happened for real.

"Wilbur!" Liz hissed at him angrily.

"What?" Wilbur asked flabbergasted, "I - but - it ..." he stammered. He was totally confused. He had seen how Violet did such incredible things throughout the day and now she was crying her eyes out like a little child.

Liz, of course, knew nothing of all that. All she knew was, that Wilbur and Violet could not stand each others guts, and because her best friend was not feeling well right now, her protective instincts turned on inevitably.

"Shove off!" she snapped aggressively at Wilbur. Startled, Wilbur backed off a few steps.

"My dress is totally ruined, my bike is broken and my shoes are gone!" Violet continued, sobbing.

"Oh no, not the red ones!" Liz said, now almost crying herself, "We find new ones..." she added, however, it did not sound very convincing.

"They were unique! I'll never find ones like that again!" Violet sobbed.

Wilbur stared at the two girls, half-terrified, half in disbelief, his jaw dropping. His brain simply refused to understand what he saw.

Then he suddenly felt how someone grabbed him by his arm and gently pulled him away from the two girls.

"Come on ..." Pete said, "What's up with your leg?" he continued, trying to change the subject to distract Wilbur a bit, after his terrible loss. But Wilbur didn't seem to listen.

"I don't believe it! Pah! Getting upset because of some stupid shoes! That's ridiculous!" Wilbur bleated enraged.

"Hmm... Women ..." Pete said, and shrugged.

"That's ludicrous! The world is almost going to the dogs and she snivels because of her shoes!"

"Well, well ..." Pete replied laconically. He wondered how Wilbur could still complain about something like that, now that he himself had to get over such a terrible loss. Then suddenly Pete had an unpleasant suspicion, that hopefully would not confirm.

"Oooh, I still have to get my car!" Wilbur said suddenly, and struck his hand against his forehead. He had totally forgotten about the Lady Crema.

"It's standing somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully nothing happened to it..." he said, a little annoyed at the thought that he would still have to get his car. He actually wanted home as fast as possible...

"Damn ..." Pete muttered. His suspicions had just been confirmed. He suddenly felt hot. Why was he the one, who should tell Wilbur the terrible news?

"It's not as bad as all that... I have get the car to a garage tomorrow anyway... "

"Wilbur?"

"I've knocked over Parr's bike ... such a long scratch!" he said, showing the length with his hands, "That will take forever! I have to remove and repaint the entire lining! You know how much work that is!" Wilbur continued, applied. Nevertheless, he still felt a little better. He actually liked to tinker around at his car. Then he saw Pete's pained expression.

"Hey, it's nothing I couldn't fix" he tried to reassure his friend.

"Your parents didn't tell you...?" Pete asked hesitantly.

"Tell me what ...?" Wilbur asked. Pete suddenly had a knot in his throat and he looked like he was about to start crying at any moment.

"Is anyone hurt?" Wilbur asked horrified.

"No! Don't worry! No one's hurt!" Pete waved, but then he hesitated, "Although ... "

"What ...?" Wilbur asked, still very worried.

Pete took a deep breath, then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object, which he pushed into Wilbur's hand. Wilbur opened his hand. It was the badge on the front lid of the Lady Crema, with the Robinson R and the three diagonal lines ...

The girls had calmed down in the meantime. Relaxed, they stood on the meadow near the road, that ran along the lake, while Liz talked about her totally messed-up evening.

But suddenly they were interrupted by loud screaming.

"NO! No! Not her! Why? She never hurt somebody! She was so innocent!"

If Violet had not known that it was about a car, she had almost thought someone had died.

Wondering, the two girls looked over to the boys. Pete had laid a hand on Wilbur's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"What a stupid nonsense!" Violet grunted, "It's just a car!"

"Well, I can understand it ... after all, he built the car himself..." Liz replied sympathetically. Violet suddenly jerked around and stared at her.

"Did he?" she wanted to cry out in disbelief, but she pulled herself together; instead she said with a derogatory tone: "Anyone can build a car from the construction kit!"

"This car wasn't from a construction kit" Liz corrected, "Pete told me that he and Wilbur had found the car a few years ago in a slope and later Wilbur had restored this thing from scratch..."

"All alone?" Violet asked in disbelief, and yet appreciative. She slowly understood that she had completely underestimated the value of this car.

"Well, Pete has helped him now and then ..."

"Aha..."

Wilbur, meanwhile, had calmed down again pretty fast, especially because he remembered that his sister had been sitting in the car. Thank God nothing happened to her! But Pete still looked pretty crestfallen, so Wilbur gave him the badge as a souvenir. Pete in return only patted his shoulder. A wordless farewell among men. Then he went back to his girlfriend and Violet.

Wilbur, however hobbled slowly to the shore and sat down on a stone to take a short rest. Not only his leg was hurting, but every bone in his body. Not to mention how fed up and confused he was about everything that had happened today... Completely exhausted, he buried his face in his hands.

Meanwhile Pete had reached the two girls.

"Do you want to come with us? We can drive you home if you want" Liz said kindly.

"No, thanks" Violet said with a wave, "I ... there's still something I have to manage... "

Liz began to grin knowingly.

"No prob, we'll wait for you" Pete said, but his girlfriend grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

"She'll be fine! Let's go!" she said, still grinning.

Pete was pretty confused, but he only shrugged. Probably women would be a mystery for him forever. Then the couple said goodbye and left.

For a while Violet stood there motionless, a bit lost and uncertain. Carefully, she glanced over to Wilbur, who was still sitting on a stone close to the shore, with his back turned to her.

Then she grimaced, taking a deep breath. That would be very unpleasant. But she had no choice. After all he knew her super hero identity now...

But that wasn't only thing she wanted to talk about.


	47. Chapter 46

The beta reading for the last chapters was done by inaligrimalkin from dA! Big kudos to her! She did a great job! *dance* The end is near, so stay tuned!

* * *

Drooping, Wilbur sat on the stone at the lakeshore. He was resting his chin in his hand, looking lost in thought on the ground. He had his back turned to Violet, so he didn't see her coming.

Violet approached him cautiously and slowly. When she came closer, she saw the cut jeans and the bandage around the knee.

Violet was confused. She had no idea what to say. The day had brought so much, so much had changed. This young man in front her wasn't the Wilbur Robinson she knew... But did she know Wilbur Robinson at all?

All these years they had constantly kept away from each other.

"What a waste of time ..." something inside her thought bitterly.

Suddenly she had to think back to what younger Wilbur had just told her ...

Was that true? Had Wilbur Robinson - THE Wilbur Robinson - a crush on HER? Or t least had had a crush on her?

Oh great! This thought made her heart pounding suddenly. She hesitated and stopped.

Then she shook her head and walked on. Until she stood next to him at the lakeshore.

Wilbur noticed her and looked up. Violet grasped for air when she looked into his hazel eyes. She took a deep breath to say something, but nothing came out. Only when Wilbur stared back at his feet again, she regained her composure.

What the hell was wrong with her? She was so outspoken usually...

But now she had no idea what to say. There was so much to say ... right? Why did she want to talk to him in the first place?

She shook her head again to clearly think.

"Sorry about your car..." she said finally. This was the best thing she could think of. She hoped that would evolve into some kind of conversation.

"It was just a car!" He imitated her voice, without looking at her. That gave her a stab into her heart. Had he heard that? However, she had to admit that she had probably deserved that.

"I didn't know that you'd built it yourself" she said when she had recovered her voice.

Thereupon Wilbur seemed to shrink and lowered his head. He just sighed and drooped sadly.

"Great job, Miss super clever!" Violet thought and bit her tongue. She changed the topic to maybe cheer him up again.

"Or that you can do karate ... "

"How should you know all that? We're not talking to each other..." Wilbur said sarcastically with a grin and a subliminal reproachful tone. Violet felt attacked.

"That's not my fault!" she protested in her usual bitchy voice that she always used when she spoke to Robinson Junior.

Then she suddenly remembered, why she was here actually. She took a deep breath and focused again.

"Listen ... uhm ... you've seen some pretty incredible things today... and ... I'd be grateful if you wouldn't tell anyone about it ..."

"What exactly do you mean?" Wilbur asked tartly, "That you're from the past?" he added, before Violet could answer.

"... That too ..." Violet said slowly.

"Or that I've saved your life? Even several times!"

Violet remained silent. He knew exactly what she meant. Why did he played this stupid game now?

"Although I have risked my life for nothing, because you're a superhero?"

"Shh!" Vi winced and looked round to all sides automatically. But no one was close enough to hear them.

"Do you really think I would go around and blurt this out?" he asked seriously.

"To be honest ..." Vi began with a shrug, "... I don't know!"

Wilbur drooped, looking back at the ground. So... that was the way she thought of him. After all that had happened today, she should actually know better, shouldn't she?

"I won't tell anybody ... don't worry ..." he said softly and looked away.

Violet felt like in Syndrome's zero-point energy laser, unable to move.

She couldn't defend, however, that the memory of an earlier incident of this day returned to her mind. When he had held her in his strong arms and they had been sitting for a brief moment, nose to nose. In this very moment a - how she found now - terrible thought had popped up in her head. She had seriously considered to kiss him.

She couldn't know, but similar thoughts were going through Wilbur's head. She was so damn pretty... For a moment he allowed himself to wander back in thought, to hold her once more in his arms. She seemed so petite and yet she was so tough!

For a while they just stood there, surrounded by an oppressive silence. Each of them wanted - no, needed to say something, but none of them knew what to say, or where to start. The years of reluctance and had built up barriers between them that couldn't be pulled down in a single day. Too many accusations and prejudices stood between them.

"Okay ..." Violet said finally, to break this almost unbearable silence.

"Anything else?" Wilbur suddenly asked annoyed, almost aggressive. He didn't even know himself why he was so bad-tempered all of a sudden.

Violet shook her head blankly.

"Then you can leave me alone, right?"

"I'm already gone!" She bitched back.

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"You're still here!"

"You're SO stupid!" Violet snapped, turned on her heels and stomped away furiously. After a few steps, however, she regretted it. Finally, he now knew her secret ... perhaps she should be a little kinder to him -

At that moment it finally became clear to her... Wilbur Robinson knew her secret!

And he would certainly try to use it against her at every opportunity!

At first this thought made her alarmed, then turned the alarm turned into anger, as if Wilbur had betrayed her already. She angrily stomped over the lawn to her bicycle.

Wilbur was left behind; frustrated and bad-tempered he started to throw little stones into the lake. Why did he start a fight with her again? Because he was so accustomed to fight with her?

Probably it was already too late, that the two would start to get along...

"What was that?" asked a familiar voice behind him suddenly. Wilbur turned around. It was Carl. At first he was delighted to see that his robotic buddy was fine again, but then he continued to throw stones into the water, annoyed.

"Leave me alone..."

"You missed a perfect chance!" Carl continued stubbornly.

"Nonsense! What a chance anyway? I don't know what you're talking about!" Wilbur replied.

"Why did you start fighting with her again?" his robotic friend taunted further.

"I have a headache, hundreds of bruises, my knee ruined, I'll probably never play football again, my car is junk, and then SHE comes and has nothing better to do than to get on my nerves!" Wilbur defended, agitated, wildly gesticulating with his hands.

"Pff, doesn't matter to me ... if you don't want to be honest to yourself, it's your thing," said Carl and turned away, as if the matter was done, but then he jerked around again.

"At least you've spent the day together without killing each other. That's not bad for a first date!" he quipped provocatively and gave Wilbur a slight push with his elbow.

"This was NO Date ...!" Wilbur moaned irritated, then he drooped again annoyed, "would leave me alone now!"

"Wilbur, I'm your friend!" Carl said caring and put his metal arm around Wilbur's shoulders, "And I want you to be happy! So get up and run after her!" he continued, while he suddenly grabbed Wilbur by his shoulders pushed him in the direction, where Violet had vanished.

"No!" Wilbur protested.

"Do it!" Carl insisted and pushed him further.

"I don't even know what to say to her!" Wilbur cried suddenly, almost panicked.

"Stop thinking! You can think about that when you stand in front of her!"

"But -"

"Now go and make me proud!" Carl cried passionately and gave Wilbur a final push into the right direction. Then he watched how Wilbur slowly hobbled away. Suddenly Carl noticed that Wilma was standing next to him. He looked down at her, then he looked back in Wilbur's direction and sighed heavily.

"Oh, they grow up so fast!" he said touched, tilted his head and pretended as if he would wipe away a tear. Wilma began to imitate the expression, also tilted her head and wiped away a tear.

"Grow up so fast!" she repeated, and sighed heavily too.

* * *

Violet was about to put up her bike. She was in a very bad mood. In her mind she already tried to explain her parents why they might have to move again, just because Junior Robinson knew her secret identity now!

And now that stupid broken bike! She really would've liked to just throw it in the lake. If she had Flame's super powers, she would have destroyed this stupid thing on the spot!

She just wanted to leave, when someone touched her arm. She was startled and jerked around. The bike, however, fell crashing to the ground, right on her foot, while she was still holding the loose handlebar in her hands.

Violet gritted her teeth from pain and suppressed a nasty curse.

Only now she realized who had touched her. And her mood didn't get any better.

Wilbur just wanted to apologize to her, when she roared.

"WHAT?"

It sounded much harsher then intended, but her foot was hurting like hell and she was not really in the mood to apologize for it. Wilbur, however, was startled about her aggressive reaction.

"This is all your fault!" Someone shouted suddenly, and only the next moment Wilbur realized, that it was his own voice. That was actually absolutely not what he wanted to say. But somehow he had already lost control over the situation.

"What?" Violet asked indignantly.

"Nobody can expect me to like you! Since you're here, you are obnoxious to me!"

"What? YOU are the one who has never given me a chance!" Violet protested furiously, waving with the handlebar, that she was still holding in her hand. Wilbur cursed inside. He had actually wanted to say that!

"That's not true! I've tried everything!" he defended.

"Oh sure! What were you trying, huh? You've ignored me right from the start!" said Violet.

"For example, I've taken this stupid job in the ice cream parlor only because you've been there every day last summer!" Wilbur began, and he absolutely didn't care how embarrassing it sounded, "And then you never came there again! And in this class play, where you got out just when I entered! Or at the class project, or the class trip, and you've NEVER been on one of my parties!"

And when he was telling the truth already, he could admit the rest too.

"I even started with football because you said, football players are hot! So who has never given a chance? "

When Violet heard all this, she would have liked to totally freak out.

"I didn't ask for you to do all that! And by the way, you have tried everything, but simply talking to me was too stupid for you or what?" she shouted offended. She turned around - she wanted to leave, to run away, no matter where, just away from this place. But once she had turned around, she tripped over the bicycle, which was still lying behind her. Fortunately, she didn't fall to the ground, but it still looked stupid and she felt pretty embarrassed. The blood rushed to her head all of a sudden.

"That's it! That damn, stupid bike!" she cursed, "This day is getting worse and worse," she cried furiously, and angrily threw away the handlebar. She wanted to continue complaining, when someone shouted in the distance:

"Ouch! Who's throwing handlebars?"

Violet gritted her teeth.

"Erm... Sorry...!" she cried over and waved shyly. Suddenly, all her anger was gone. She just felt miserable.

"Time out..." she said suddenly, turning to Wilbur, then she went past him to a wooden bench that stood not too far away from them. When she reached it, Violet collapsed on the bench and buried her face in her hands, exhausted and frustrated, her hair covering her face. She felt bad, she was hungry and had no energy left for their useless fights that led to nothing anyway. And on top of it all, she had a headache now.

Suddenly she noticed that someone sat next to her on the bench. She peeked between her fingers and through her hair and was not a little startled to see Wilbur there.

There was a long, awkward pause between them.

"Erm, I-I'm sorry" Wilbur finally began uncertainly, "That's only because - I don't know... in your presence I somehow totally lose control! "

"If my presence bothers you, then I'll leave..." Violet replied feebly.

"No! Oh! You - You always take everything the wrong way ...!" Wilbur said annoyed.

There was another pause. Obviously their relationship was more messed up then they both were thinking. After a while, however, Wilbur thought that the silence was actually quite pleasant. The city looked breathtaking once again, and, actually, it was pretty romantic. He leaned back and began to calm down slowly.

"So..." he began with a wry smile, "This is a day with Violet Parr ..."

"It's not always that exciting." Violet muttered, without looking at him.

"Oh, this was exciting enough for my taste ..." Wilbur confessed and dared to look over to her. Violet took a deep breath, then she also dared to throw a glance at Wilbur, and somehow she couldn't resist to smile. He returned the smile - when suddenly a voice called out between them:

"Did you kiss already?"

Wilbur and Violet both jerked around in shock.

"Wilma!" Wilbur cried in horror to his little sister, who curiously hung between them over the backrest of the bench. Violet was too shocked by the content of the question, as if she would have been able to reply something.

"My mom says, if you kiss you have to get married!" Wilma said, precocious, turning to Violet.

"Aha..." Violet said hesitantly, still in shock. In that case she would have been married quite often. But it comforted her that the situation was apparently much more unbearable and embarrassing for Wilbur than it was for her. The poor boy looked as if he literally wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

"Wilma! Get lost, you little rat!"

"But you'd like to kiss him, right? Don't you? Right?" Wilma dug deeper stubbornly, while she ran around to the bench. Now also Violet blushed. Suddenly Wilbur tried to grab his little sister, but she was too quick. She ran around the bench and began to dance at a safe distance.

"Wilbur and Viola are sitting on a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

Wilbur wanted to die in that moment. Only a few moments ago the ice between him and Violet had started to break, and now his sister had to ruin everything. Then he heard an irritated voice beside him.

"That seems to run in the family...!" Violet cried annoyed over the noise.

"What? The hair?"

"No ..." Violet replied, rolling her eyes, "you are all pretty skilled with getting on my nerves!"

"You're pretty good at that too!" Wilbur replied, now annoyed too. Did she want to play this old game again and start a fight with him?

Wilma paused to take a breath for the next stanza, when Violet suddenly turned around and wagged her finger at the little girl.

"Hey! Didn't your parents teach you not to interrupt adults when they talk!" she snapped in a tone that could make you scared.

Wilma fell silent instantly and looked at her brother for help, because she expected him to defend her against this evil woman.

"You heard the lady ..." Wilbur said, shrugging his shoulders.

Thereupon Wilma pouted, folded her little arms and walked away offended.

"Actually, I should be mad at you now" Wilbur said gloomily. After all, she had just yelled at his little sister.

"Oh, nonsense, she'll survive it!" Violet said, annoyed and stretched out on the bench again, "And you know that I am one of the good guys. I only pretend to be bad..." she sighed heavily and rubbed her tired eyes, then she buried her face in her hands again.

"By the way, I know how to cope with younger siblings. After all I had some myself" she added.

Wilbur said nothing. He sat down beside her carefully, curious to hear what she would say next.

"Two brothers ... who are now both much older than I am. Imagine, you wake up and Wilma is suddenly in her mid-thirties... and even has children as old as you..." Violet continued exhausted. She was surprised how easy it was for her to talk about this, after all, she had never told anyone.

Wilbur nodded thoughtfully. He could imagine the situation, but he had no idea how it felt. It must have been pretty hard for her to wake up in a strange time.

There was another pause, but it wasn't so unpleasant. For a while, each of them was coping with his own thoughts.

"I've never said that footballers would be hot. I hate football!" Violet began abruptly.

"But Liz said -"

"Wait - Liz told you that?" Violet interrupted and tried to suppress a laugh.

"Yes ..." Wilbur said slowly. Did Liz take him for a fool?

Violet then began to laugh uproariously.

"Oh, Liz sometimes mixes up a few things..." she giggled, her cheeks flushed with laughter, "Football, baseball, basketball, handball... for her all team sports with balls are one and the same!"

"Wait a minute, you mean, I spent the last one and a half year for nothing?" Wilbur asked incredulously. Violet then began to laugh even more. His face was absolutely priceless at that moment. Her eyes began to tear with laughter.

"I'm so stupid ..." Wilbur said tortured and buried his head in his hands, but after a few seconds he couldn't hold back the laughter either. Somehow, Violet's laugh was contagious.

"We both are stupid ..." Violet giggled as she slowly calmed down and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Yes, but my father is the smartest person in the world ... one might expect, that I inherited at least a little of his intelligence ... "

For some reason, Violet found that comment hilarious and started laughing again.

"What ...?" Wilbur asked, looking blank, "Yeah, just laugh about me ... at least that's better than yelling at me."

"Let's just record that we are both complete idiots ... Although you are more then I am - "

"Violet Parr, do you want to start to argue again?" Wilbur said jokingly.

"No! Of course not!" she grinned, "Although it would be very tempting!" she added after a pause.

Wilbur had not really intended - it was once again one of his truly spontaneous, impulsive decisions. Instead of responding, he simply pressed his lips to her mouth. Only when he realized what he had done, he became aware of the risk and prepared internally for a resounding slap in the face.

But nothing happened ... absolutely nothing. None of them dared to move or breathe at all, to not destroy these ultra fragile moment. Although it was not a very pleasant kiss actually... It was more of a really cramped thing, both had their eyes tightly shut, and held their breath.

"Mom, Mom! Guess what just happened!" Wilma's squeaky voice shouted suddenly, then quickly moved away from them.

Violet broke the kiss abruptly.

"Air!" was what she first cried. Then she snorted.

"Oh my God, that was horrible!" she cried amused. Wilbur, however, turned dark red. He wanted to die!

"So if you wanted to show me what a fantastic kisser you are, then you just failed miserably!"

Wilbur cleared his throat embarrassed and rubbed his neck uncomfortably. In fact the situation was more than embarrassing for him. He wanted to hide somewhere and never come out again. His face felt hot and his hands were sweating. Suddenly an alarming thought flashed through his mind: what if Violet would rub his nose in that? Then he got the terrible horror vision, that she would run around and tell everybody, making fun of him, and everything would be the same again! They would fight and hate each other.

Why did his impulsive decisions always brought him into trouble? He urgently had to get used to think first before he acted.

How it should turn out now, however, Wilbur was not the only one who had a liking for spontaneous decisions.

Suddenly he felt how Violet's cool hands gently touched his hot cheeks and pushed up his head, until his face was directly in front of hers. The touch seemed to paralyze him, he could neither speak, nor think, and he didn't even knew exactly what was happening at all.

"I'll show you how to do that right!" Violet whispered lovingly, just before their lips touched.

It was one of those rare kisses, where you completely lose yourself, the outside world seems to disappear, and even things such as time and thoughts dissolve into thin air and become completely meaningless. Everything you are still aware of is the other person.

After the first breath Wilbur was surprised and a little cramped, but after the third breath his brain was able to send commands again to move his arms. After the fifth breath finally, he dared to put his arms around her slim waist. Then he felt how Violet slowly shifted her weight and leaned against him so that he could feel her warmth and her heartbeat against his chest. This way they were sitting in a warm embrace on the bench at the edge of the lake. The kiss seemed to last almost forever, each of them had lost all sense of time.

When their lips finally broke apart, Wilbur couldn't stop smiling. He kept his eyes closed.

Maybe it was just a dream, and when he opened his eyes everything would be the same again. At the thought he pressed Violet closer to him, as if it could prevent this dream to stop. She returned the pressure and kissed him on the tip of his nose... and he got the assurance that it wasn't a dream but real.

"Violet!" someone shouted - and all of a sudden the bubble burst! It was so unexpectedly and went so fast that neither of them really knew how to react. Violet's eyes shut open and looked around frantically to find the source of the call, Wilbur, however, tried to let go of her and slid backwards, but the bank ended right behind him, which meant that he suddenly fell on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Violet asked quickly and leaned over the bench down to him. Wilbur didn't really realized that, he only tried to struggle on his feet again as quickly as possible in order to not make an even bigger fool out of himself.

"Nothing happened!" he stammered hastily, when he stood up abruptly. He had just uttered the words, when he slammed his head against Violet's.

"Ouch!" the two cried simultaneously.

"Sorry!" Wilbur added hastily, holding his hurting forehead. But before Violet could reply, another person joined them.

"Violet, there you are!" said Flame relieved, but she startled, however, and looked confused at the two teens, who were both holding their heads. Then she gave Wilbur a suspicious look. This guy knew Violet's secret identity, so he now was a potential risk for her entire family.

"We have to go now, Vi!" she said slowly, without taking her eyes from Wilbur. Wilbur gulped.

"Uh, okay!" Violet reeled, but then she remembered something, "Wait! My bike!"

"Then hurry up!" Flame shooed. Suspicious, she watched how Wilbur followed Violet and helped her to take the bike to Flame's car.

Violet walked behind him. She was overjoyed! She felt so light and carefree, as if her feet wouldn't touch the ground.

But it didn't take long until the doubts appeared. What if she only imagined that everything was different between them now. Finally, people usually didn't change within a few minutes. But he carried her bike - that was very gentlemen-like, wasn't it? But on the other hand, it was the least, finally he had been the one who broke it.

The thoughts raced through Violet's head and made her almost dizzy - at the same time she couldn't get the fat grin out of her face.

When they reached the car Flame opened the trunk, so Wilbur could put in the broken bike. Then Flame got in the car.

When he had stowed the bike, Wilbur turned clearly nervous to Violet. She found that incredibly cute, finally, Wilbur usually was so confident and shrewd.

"Okay... uhm ..." he began, rubbing his neck. Violet was totally jazzed. Was that good or bad, or both, and what was good or bad at all? She was completely done with her nerves.

"There's something you could do for me ..." Wilbur continued shyly, while he put his hands into in his pockets.

"Aha! What is it?" Vi asked with big eyes, but the words had hardly left her lips, when she gave herself a kick inside. She had to stop with this totally stupid grin. She was acting absolutely ridiculous.

"Well... I don't know ... erm ... like, going out with me ... or so ..."

Oh God! Wilbur Robinson asked her out! And he was blushing!

Violet wanted to jump at him and cuddle him tightly. It was really hard to resist. Instead, she suddenly started giggling as if she was a stupid schoolgirl.

"Okay!" she grinned, but then her common sense returned, "Though ..." she began hesitantly.

"Though what?" Wilbur asked nervously. He felt how he slightly started to panic. He was so stupid! She couldn't go out with him! She certainly had a boyfriend!

"I'll probably be grounded for the next two to three months..." Violet said, grimacing.

"Oh, why?" asked disappointed, yet relieved.

Violet looked to both sides, then she showed him with a wave that she wanted to whisper something into his ear. He bent down to her and - for some reason it turned into a hug. They stood like that for a while and simply enjoyed the moment. Violet had to resist to not start giggling totally ridiculously again. He was so tall and strong and handsome. And he smelled so good! How could a mortal man be so incredibly attractive?

But she controlled herself in the end.

"We're not allowed to use our powers" she whispered, still with a broad grin.

"But you've saved the city from the complete destruction." Wilbur whispered back, wondering.

"Yes, but ..." Violet began hesitantly, "We've been doing this for a few years without our parents knowing it..."

Wilbur wanted to say something, but suddenly a loud noise of a horn tore them from their embrace. Flame was getting impatient.

"I think you have to leave..." Wilbur said, not very enthusiastic.

"Yeah..."

"I'll call you!" he grinned. In his imagination he had said that so often to her...

"Okay!" Violet returned the grin. Then she went to the passenger side of the car and got in. Once she was home she would immediately call Liz to tell her about the fantastic news!

Then the car lifted from the ground and rushed away through the air, vanishing between the buildings.

Wilbur looked after the vehicle with a dreamy smile. Probably he was the happiest guy in Todayland this evening.

* * *

The two time travelers knew nothing from all that. Tired and exhausted, but happy that they had survived all that, they sat at the lakeshore, until Carl picked them up.

There were far fewer people here than before, after all, it was already in the middle of the night. Carl took them to the cordoned-off area where the time machine was.

"Wonderful!" Wilbur whispered over to Violet and rubbed his hands, "We go back, and no one will notice that we've ever been away!"

"Not so fast!" they suddenly heard Cornelius voice directly behind them. The two winced, Violet gulped and Wilbur gritted his teeth. They turned around. Cornelius just wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I will send you back an hour later - no protesting!" he said, because Wilbur had just opened his mouth to object.

"I also want you to give this to my former self" he continued, handing a sealed letter to Wilbur. Wilbur made a face.

For Violet the situation was also very unpleasant. She stared at the floor ashamed, the dark, tousled hair covered her pale face. She had deserved a proper rubdown... and she would certainly get one, once they were back in their time.

Meanwhile Cornelius went back to the time machine and closed the front lid.

"Finally done!" he said with satisfaction, then he turned to the two time travelers, "Then get in!"

Violet climbed over the wing in the back seat. Inside it was still wet and on the floor she discovered soaked, tattered comic books. Wilbur sat on the driver's seat.

"And don't get the idea to just throw this letter away!" Cornelius said gravely, and pointed to the letter in Wilbur's hand. He feared that his son would make up some story in order to escape the trouble.

"It has a temporal locking; if the seal won't be opened within the next 30 minutes, the letter will simply deliver itself."

"Okay ..." Wilbur said suspiciously obedient, and returned the serious look, but Cornelius knew his son too well.

"And don't try to open the seal yourself!" Cornelius grinned, "It is genetically encoded and can only be opened by one person - me!"

Now Wilbur dropped his poker face and growled annoyed. He grimaced and didn't look that confident anymore. Stubborn, he started the time machine and closed the hatch.

Cornelius had too much fun enjoying this sight. His son was smart, but he was still a bit smarter.

But hardly had the time machine left the ground, they landed again and Wilbur opened the hatch.

"What? what's wrong?" Cornelius asked worried.

"See yourself ..." Wilbur began and looked back over his shoulder. Cornelius followed his gaze and saw Wilma, who was sitting on Violet's lap.

"We have a stowaway!"

"Oh, Wilma!" Cornelius said and went over to the time machine, "Violet, don't you think that you have kidnapped enough of my kids for today?" he continued, while he took Wilma out of the time machine. Of course it was a joke, but Violet blushed heavily anyway.

"Aww man..." the little girl complained, who had hidden behind the back seat.

Again Wilbur started the time machine and closed the hatch. Then the small red vehicle finally took off and disappeared after a few seconds in a bright plasma bubble.

* * *

Finally back in their time Violet was surprised at how little had changed. They were still in Todayland, it was still dark and in the distance the city shone just as bright as the stars.

They flew towards the Robinson's domicile. Violet gulped. She would get the trouble of her life, but she that wasn't the problem. She would really understand, if Mr. Robinson simply froze her and never defrost her again. However the punishment would turn out, she would take it upon herself. She only worried about Wilbur...

She was just glad that none of them was seriously hurt.

Suddenly the time machine flew very slowly, they lost altitude and the headlights turned off too.

Startled, Violet leaned forward, and looked at Wilbur, but on his concentrated expression she could see that he probably did that on purpose.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"What do you mean, what are you doing?" Wilbur asked blankly, but then he started grinning proudly, "I'll take you home! For I am a gentleman!"

Violet, on the other hand, didn't found that so funny, she rather was confused.

"But -... Your father said - "

"Yayaya whatever ..." Wilbur interrupted with a wink, "Is it here?" he asked then.

For Dash and his family only an hour had passed, so Violet hoped that no one had noticed her absence. They carefully examined the house from the outside. Everything was dark except for the kitchen and the flickering light of the TV from the living room. Finally they stopped at Violet's window, that was still open.

Violet was stunned, grateful and happy. She hadn't earned so much kindness. With a bashful smile, she looked over at Wilbur and she felt how her cheeks got warm.

"I think you've got enough problems right now ..." Wilbur began quietly, "the last thing you need is a rubdown from my father - again -"

Suddenly he was hugged from behind. Wilbur hadn't expected that and needed a moment to respond. Since he couldn't return the hug, he just patted Violets arm. A happy smile crept upon his face when he felt her cheek on his.

"Thank you!... For everything!" Violet whispered into his ear. Then she broke the embrace. She was sure that her face was bright red, but she hoped that Wilbur couldn't see it in semi-darkness of the time machine. Wilbur opened the glass hatch of the time machine and Violet climbed over the wing and through the window into her room. They waved goodbye before Wilbur steered the time machine away and flew home.

Violet looked after him until she lost the small vehicle out if sight.

She felt a little like Wendy from Peter Pan. For a moment she really thought everything had just been a crazy, crazy dream, but her aching limbs and dirty, ragged clothes, taught her otherwise.

She closed the window and looked out thoughtfully, frowning. Wilbur would get in big trouble... just like she would...

Violet sighed wearily. All that could wait until tomorrow. First she had to sleep. She suddenly felt terribly exhausted, so that she could hardly keep her eyes open.

Tired she sat on her bed and pulled off the first shoe ... but this effort was already too much, so she lay back shortly to take a break ... and fell soundly asleep.


	48. Chapter 47

The entire Robinson family was in the garage, upset and in panic. When Carl had noticed that Wilbur had vanished with the time machine, he had immediately warned the other family members.

"Again, I don't know! Perhaps he's gone for hours already! I just came in and the door and the roof were open!" Carl repeated after Franny had asked him once again. She hardly understood him though, because the others were all talking excitedly at the same time. It was a huge mess of confusion.

"Okay, don't panic!" Cornelius cried to calm his family. It was silent for a moment, but before he had the opportunity to explain his plan to follow Wilbur with the other time machine, a voice screamed through the garage.

**"Don't panic! Don't panic!"**

It was Aunt Petunia's voice. And again they all began to talking hysterically, constantly interrupting each other. Cornelius sighed and shook his head. Sometimes his family was really tiring.

Suddenly, without any of the others noticing, the little red time machine flew through the roof and landed right behind them.

Wilbur gulped when he saw his excited family gathered in the garage. Exhausted, he climbed out to the wing of the time machine, but nobody had seen him.

"Hey guys!" he cried, but still everybody in the room was talking hectically and all at the same time, so still nobody noticed him.

"I'm back!" he cried aloud, with both hands beside his mouth.

"Wilbur!" Franny cried in relief, pushed past Aunt Billy and Art and ran up to her son, but when she arrived, her mood changed instantly.

"What have you done, young man?" she cried suddenly severe, putting her hands akimbo.

"This is an excellent question!" Wilbur said cheekily when he climbed from the wing. He was happy to be finally back home, in his time, although he probably would be in trouble ... he couldn't imagine that though, after all, he and Violet had saved Todayland... in the future. In his fantasy he had already imagined how he would be hailed as the savior of the future. He should get a medal for his achievement.

"What were you thinking to take the time machine and disappear?" Cornelius said angrily.

"Now listen to me! It's all in here!" Wilbur protested and gave the letter to Cornelius. His father grabbed it without looking at it, and continued to scold his son.

"Are you aware of what you could have caused! Or what you've caused already, that we haven't noticed yet!" he grumbled menacingly. Wilbur thought that this was more than unfair. They expected him to behave like an adult, and yet they still treated him like a baby. In his opinion there was absolutely no reason that his father was dressing him down now.

"Christian Tenner is a psychopathic murderer! Read before you snap at me!" Wilbur suddenly burst out, then he folded his arms grumpily. He had never yelled at his parents in such a way, and Cornelius and Franny stared startled at him. Franny looked steadfastly at her son, while Cornelius opened the letter and began to read.

_"To past myself._

_The two_ (at this point was startled Cornelius inevitably) _caused a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, without them the city would have been destroyed."_

There followed a few hair-raising facts about his supposedly trusted colleague Christian Tenner. Cornelius was so horrified that he was about to think it was a joke. That couldn't be true! But it stood there, black on white in his own handwriting. The content of the letter made him forgot all his anger.

_"Nevertheless, you should take care that Wilbur and the honorable Miss Parr learn a small lesson about time traveling"_

"What? What's that?" The family urged impatiently, while Cornelius was reading.

"So what exactly happened?" he asked Wilbur carefully, while he folded the letter again...

"I've traveled to the future and solved some serious problems." Wilbur said curtly.

Cornelius looked at his son intensely, trying to suppress a grin. Wilbur was really trying to protect this girl and that was pretty unusual. Wilbur wasn't usually the type of guy who voluntarily took the blame for somebody else. Cornelius cleared his throat, trying to maintain composure and put on his serious face.

"Good. What would be an appropriate punishment in your opinion?"

On this question, Wilbur got a knot in his throat and his jaw dropped in shock. Punishment? Why should he be punished? He hadn't done anything wrong! He had actually expected praise and an appreciative pat on the shoulder -

He desperately tried to find an excuse, but then he realized that the only alternative would be to incriminate Violet and he didn't want to do that.

Resigned, he drooped.

"Well ..." he began quietly, "one month grounding...?"

He looked up carefully, but his father didn't seem very happy about it.

"And this weekend is the Captain Future Marathon ..." Wilbur added meekly. Everybody in the room was suddenly holding their breath in shock. Everyone knew that Captain Future was Wilbur's all time favorite show and that he was yearning for this weekend for months already. They could hardly believe that Wilbur was the one who suggested to pass on it. Even Cornelius was surprised, but he regained his composure again quickly.

"All right!" he said coldly. Franny put her hand on his arm and was about to disagree with him. She thought such a punishment was way too hard. But Cornelius cut her off:

"If he thinks that this is an appropriate punishment ..."

Now Wilbur was finally in a bad mood. He had expected something like "Oh no, that's too hard!", "We can't do that to you, after all what have you done today!" or "Because you're a hero and saved the city, you don't need to go to school for the rest of the week!"

But no! Everything he got was an "Okay, that's appropriate!"

"I'll be in my room," Wilbur muttered gloomily, then he stormed out of the garage. He ran along the endless corridors. He just wanted to his room as quickly as possible and hide.

He would have really liked to start crying. He didn't know exactly why, but somehow everything was just unfair and stupid.

Suddenly he noticed that someone was coming through one of the tubes; he could hear the hissing sound above him, and a second later, his mother stood in front of him.

"Wilbur!" a voice cried from behind and came closer to him. At that moment it suddenly all became clear to him - the sickness in the morning, her mood swings, the whispering of the others -

"I know it by the way!" he shouted offended, and he didn't try to hide the reproachful tone of his voice.

"What?" Franny asked hesitantly. She had stopped and it seemed as if she had become a little pale.

"Really great that you involve me into your family planning!" he shouted angrily, and at the last word he couldn't suppress an offended sob. He turned away and wanted to leave, so that Franny wouldn't see his tears.

It was clear. His parents had decided to have another child and no one had deemed it necessary to ask him about his opinion or to inform him at least. Didn't his opinion count anything in this family? Was he just the first failed attempt, or why did they want another child so urgently?

"Oh, honey ..." said Franny, and ran up to him. She wanted to hug and comfort him, but Wilbur wriggled from her grip.

"Leave me alone! I'm just your first-born!" he shouted and tried to tear away from her, but he was wrong when he thought that a mother would let go her crying child so easily. Gently but firmly she pulled him into her arms. Then the force finally left him and he pressed against her, sobbing heartrendingly.

"Honey! Please don't think that we don't involve you in our plans..." Franny said sympathetically when she gently stroked Wilbur raven-black hair.

"But that is exactly what you did!" he complained between the sobs. He didn't even know exactly why he was crying now. Then he had to realize, however, that he still behaved like a small child. Nothing was wrong except of that he was unbelievably tired.

When he had calmed down, Franny pushed his chin up slightly to look at him. She had a wry, slightly uneasy smile on her lips.

"Well ... actually it wasn't really planned... "

Wilbur frowned questioningly. His eyes were still swollen and he constantly sniffled.

"And to be honest... your father knows nothing about it yet..." Franny squealed and bit her lip.

"What?" Wilbur cried appalled. Franny let him go and began to frantically pace up and down the hallway, while she gesticulated wildly with her hands.

"I was so surprised when I found out! And he had been so busy lately! And then this secret project! And this sickness in the morning! And then you disappear suddenly and somehow the right moment wasn't there yet, and who knows how he reacts - the others suspect something, I think, and then these mood swings!"

Her babble was totally incoherent, and when she had finished, she was out of breath.

"You mean ... you didn't tell him yet?" said Wilbur, just to be sure he had understood. Franny stopped abruptly to nibble at one of her fingernails, and shook her head uncertainly.

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming down the hall and suddenly Cornelius came around the corner. He had called the police for Tenner, and now wanted to talk to Wilbur once again.

"Hey, I've been looking for you two" he said, but when he saw that Wilbur looked quite swollen from crying, and Franny somehow behaved strangely, he became suspicious - or rather worried.

"Everything okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sure! Everything's perfectly fine!" Wilbur said, wiping his nose, and before Franny could answer, he pushed her in Cornelius' direction.

"Mom would like to tell you something important!" Wilbur grinned, satisfied. Then he went to a nearby door, but before he disappeared to the next room, he stuck his head out once again and grinned.

"Now is the perfect moment!" he said to Franny with a wink. She swallowed.

"The perfect moment for what?" Cornelius asked, confused.

Wilbur left his parents satisfied. Only now he realized how tired he was. His arms seemed to be getting heavier with each step and his knees felt like they were chewing gum. He could hardly stand on his legs and couldn't wait to get to bed.

But suddenly he heard a loud voice from the room behind him. Wilbur had barely turned around, when his father stormed towards him with a breakneck speed! And suddenly he felt only that he was pulled up from the ground! Cornelius threw Wilbur over his shoulder and started jumping around in the corridor.

"We get a baby! We're having a baby!" he cried incessantly and bounced up and down with Wilbur. It happens so fast that Wilbur could hardly comprehend it. He only felt his father's shoulder pushed him painfully into the stomach.

"Okay, okay! Put me down!" Wilbur cried. Cornelius suddenly put his son back to his feet, gave him a fat smack on the cheek and then ran away, laughing like crazy.

Confused and slightly disgusted Wilbur wiped his cheek, while Cornelius continued to run through the house, cheering loudly to inform the others about the fantastic news. He had never seen his father acting so - ... like he had completely lost his marbles.

He realized that his mother was standing behind him. She smiled, satisfied, and the tension of the last few days had disappeared from her face.

"Wow... I've never seen him like that! Is he okay?" Wilbur exclaimed.

Franny suddenly laughed.

"That's nothing!" she said meaningfully. But when she didn't give a further explanation of this statement, Wilbur gave her a questioning look.

"You should have seen how he freaked out with his best invention!"

That confused Wilbur even more.

"What invention?" he asked puzzled. He had always believed that the time machine had been his father's best invention. Franny stroked his head and kissed his forehead.

"You!"

* * *

The atmosphere in the living room was a mixture of joy and solemnity, far into the night; it was almost like Christmas! The champagne corks popped and the Robinson Family toasted to Franny and Cornelius.

"And my son!" Cornelius mumbled with a raised glass of champagne (it was only his second one, but he couldn't bear that much of alcohol), "Who saved the future and the present!"

But Wilbur didn't hear that anymore. He had fallen asleep long ago beside his parents on the couch.


	49. Chapter 48

The bright sunlight woke Violet the next morning. She had slept all night lying on her blanket in her smelly clothes, with which she had landed in the lake twice. It hadn't been an enjoyable sleep. She had lain almost unconscious on the bed, and not in a very comfortable pose, and when she got up, it felt like every single muscle of her body was tensed. She hadn't the slightest idea what time it was, and she pretty much didn't care. All she wanted was to sleep for a while, and this time under the blanket, because she was freezing terribly. She just started to get out of her smelly clothes, starting with her second shoe, when there was a knock at the door. Then Flame stuck her head into the room.

"Hey, you're dressed already!" she said cheerfully and Violet wondered for a moment why she looked so much younger, "Breakfast is ready in five minutes." Flame added with a friendly smile and closed the door again.

Violet sighed; seemed as if she could forget about sleeping for now.

In pain, she put on new clothes and slowly she became awake. A little depressed she looked out of the window. Outside dawned a beautiful day again, the birds chirped and a gentle breeze was blowing through the branches of the trees, making the leaves rustle.

In retrospect, she felt ashamed for her behavior the evening before. But thank God everything had turned out well. She had been given a second chance...

"Again..." Violet whispered with a smile. Actually, she felt happy when she thought about the latest events. Then she put on one of Emely's countless pink hair bands and went down.

The others were at breakfast, when Violet came into the kitchen. Dash was still wearing his pajamas. The others were all dressed already.

Violet couldn't hide a happy smile. She felt as if she hadn't seen them in a long time.

"Someone's feeling great today!" said Dash, grinning when he looked up from his newspaper and saw Violet's smile.

Violet didn't say anything. She simply sat to the others and started eating.

"Who wants toast?" Flame asked, with two slices of white bread in her hands. Then her hands suddenly started burning, so that she toasted the bread.

"There's nothing like hand-made!" Dash said happily and took one of the slices. Meanwhile, little Emely had stretched out both hands around a milk jug, without touching it though. Concentrated she stared at the vessel - and indeed, the pot then began to wobble. Apparently she wanted to pour the milk into the bowl filled with cornflakes by using her telekinetic powers.

"Oh no, M, please don't!" Sybille cried.

"But Mom!" the blonde girl complained.

"This will make a huge mess!" Sybille insisted and took the milk jug.

"Dad! Mom won't let me try!" Emely cried upset.

"Listen to your mother, honey .." Dash said, without looking up from the newspaper. The whole scenario reminded Violet very much of how her own family had been and she couldn't help but laugh. Emely then folded her arms and pouted. Sybille just sighed and glanced out the window, lost in thought. Then she grinned challenging and put the jug in front of Emely again.

"Okay, try it! But you'll clean it up again!" she said.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen!" Emely said self-confidently, cracking her knuckles.

Then she stretched her hands out once again. And indeed! The pot began to float! Trembling, it leaned slightly forward and the first drop of milk fell into the bowl. Flame, Violet and Sybille held their breath and even Dash was put the newspaper aside to watch the spectacle.

It all worked smoothly until the jug suddenly made a violent jerk, so that the entire milk splashed through the room. But most of it landed in Emely's face.

Flame burst out laughing suddenly, and even her parents couldn't hold back. Emely's face was completely white, milk was dripping from her eyelashes and the curly blond hair and her clothes were completely wet. Violet held her hand over her mouth to suppress a laugh, but when Emely started laughing herself, she couldn't hold back anymore.

Still laughing, Sybille handed Emely a cloth, whereupon the girl immediately began to clean herself and then started mopping up the puddle of milk.

"But you have to admit, it almost worked!" she cried out from under the table, "One may not to be put off by any failure!"

Violet would have really loved to tell her how right she was about that - or rather, how right she would be about it one day.

"Failure? I thought you did that on purpose!" Flame laughed at her little sister, who was still all drenched with milk.

Suddenly Sybille shooed then out of the kitchen.

"Kids, the bus is there!" she cried, while she swiftly peeled Emely out of her wet shirt and pulled a new one over her head. Then she handed each of them a lunch box, before she finally pushed them out of the door and said goodbye.

* * *

School had never been so terribly hard. Wilbur was incredibly tired, and even in the classes he liked, he had difficulty to stay awake. He hadn't slept a lot yesterday and besides that every single one of his bone was aching. He didn't even had the energy to really listen to Pete, who was walking beside him down the hall and talked about something.

But then Wilbur suddenly discovered Violet standing at one of the lockers. She looked just as tired as he was. He immediately went up to her, leaving a confused Pete behind him.

"Hey!" she said, smiling when she saw him coming towards her, "You weren't on the bus today. I thought you skipped!"

"I took the bike ... Looking back, that was a really stupid idea!" Wilbur replied, but the last words vanished in a tired yawn. And because yawning is generally known to be contagious, Violet couldn't help but to yawn too.

"And? Did you sleep well?" Wilbur asked.

"Oh, don't get me started on that..." Violet replied, and grimaced, "But you don't look really well-rested either..." she added.

"Well, there was a little celebration yesterday!" Wilbur grinned and leaned casually against the locker.

"Really? Cool!" Violet cried joyfully. She could imagine why there was a reason to celebrate. She was really happy for Wilbur and his family. She wanted to continue, but then she discovered Pete, who was standing on the corridor and stared completely bewildered and stunned at them.

"Oh, ahem... Violet, this is Pete, Pete this is Violet" Wilbur introduced the two quite abruptly. He had totally forgotten that Pete was with him.

"Hi!" Vi greeted with a friendly smile and stretched out her hand.

"Uhm ... yes ... hi" Pete said, confused and shook hands with her. Together the three went to the cafeteria of the high school. On the way Wil and Vi talked about random things, while Pete remained silent.

But just as they wanted to sit down, Vi discovered a certain person on the other end of the hall.

"Um, there's something I have to take care of..." she said and stood up again, "See you later!"

"All right!" Wilbur said, looking after her. Then he turned to his lunch when he suddenly noticed Pete's absolutely shocked look.

"What?" Wilbur asked.

"Where's Wilbur? And what did you do to him?" Pete said suspiciously, after a pause.

"Oh com'on!"

"What was THAT?" Pete continued, pointing in Violet's direction.

"What do you mean?" Wilbur asked innocently.

"You ... you talked all normally to her!" Pete reeled.

"Of course! Pff, you should listen to yourself!"

"Yes - but yesterday - you were still - What happened?"

"Nothing ..." Wilbur said, but he couldn't suppress a grin.

"Oh Wilbur!" Pete complained to offend, as if it would be treason when Wilbur didn't tell him every secret.

"Okay, she kidnapped me with a time machine, took me to the future and together we saved Todayland from destruction. An adventure like that welds you together..."

Pete made a face.

"Haha ... Fine! If you don't want to tell me..." he said sullenly, poking around in his food.

"It's the truth!" Wilbur said with a grin.

"Veeeery funny... you watch too much Captain Future..." Pete pouted, but then he tried again to dig deeper, "Did anything happen yesterday?"

"No."

"But something must have happened!" he persisted.

Wilbur remained silent. It was useless to argue with Pete about it.

"However ..." Pete sighed as he calmed down again, "you know, I really thought you got a crush on her, but now I'm not really sure about that anymore ..."

Wilbur just shrugged. With him the opposite was the case: he was very sure.

* * *

Elizabeth Beckett sat alone in the cafeteria at a table next to the window and looked lost in thought at her lunch... It didn't seem to be a pleasant thought, because Violet had the impression that the blond girl looked pretty depressed. But maybe that was just Violet's own bad conscience about how unfriendly she had treated her the other day.

When she approached Liz, she took a deep breath ...

"Hey Elizabeth ..."

Liz startled and looked fixedly at Vi, as if she felt bothered by her.

Vi cleared her throat uneasily.

"Uhm ... may I sit here...?" she asked, and without waiting for the answer, she sat down. She felt pretty uncomfortable.

"Liz ..." she suddenly heard a very quiet, barely audible voice.

"What?" Violet asked puzzled.

"My grandmother is the only one who calls me 'Elizabeth'..." Liz said, raising her head and pronouncing the name with a clear British accent.

"Okay... Liz..." Violet began friendly, then she folded her hands coyly, "I wanted to apologize... I'm sorry. I really was an idiot yesterday, and - "

"It's okay ..." Liz interrupted.

"And because you are also new here, I thought we could explore the city after school..." Vi said after a pause, "I still don't know anything except the way to school..."

"I have no time, unfortunately..." Liz said promptly, without looking at Violet.

"Maybe tomorrow?" Vi asked hopefully

"Also, no time ..."

Slowly it dawned to Violet. Well, that was her own fault. No surprise, after the fantastic first impression yesterday.

"Then I probably don't even need to ask for after tomorrow..." Violet said bitterly, got up and wanted to go back to the boys, when Liz suddenly reached out a hand after her.

"Wait!" she cried rushed, as if she had changed her mind about it at the last second. Then she looked at Violet and played bashfully around with her fingers.

"I really have no time ... I do swimming, ballet and apparatus gymnastics... and on Saturday I have an important tourney I have to train for, and so on..." she said hastily, obviously feeling uncomfortable.

"Wow, plenty of hobbies..." Violet said, while she sat on the bench again. But because she didn't want to insult Liz, she added, "But if you like it..."

"Well... more or less" Liz said with a strange look on her face.

"Why are you doing it then...?" Vi asked confused.

"Parents..." Liz said aghast, as if this was explanation enough, and rolled her eyes. Violet only gave her a questioning glance. She wasn't really sure how to interpret this comment.

Then Liz looked up - her expression had completely changed; she didn't look shy or depressed anymore, as if all the sorrow had vanished in an instant. Friendly, she looked at Violet.

"Enough about me, what about you?"

"When I'm not in school or sleeping, I run around and save the world..." Violet replied soberly. Liz gave Vi a strange look an giggled.

"Okay..." she said slowly, laughing, "If you ever need a sidekick, just let me know!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Only one more chapter + epilogue! Stay tuned!**


	50. Chapter 49

Relieved to finally come home and to bed, Wilbur left the school. The sun was shining brightly and it was summery warm outside. Hard to believe that it was still two months until the summer holidays - that was eight weeks! 56 days!

"Scout weekend, I'm coming!" Pete cried joyfully beside him, threw his arms up and turned to Wilbur.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?"

"I'm grounded..." Wilbur replied sullenly, with a yawn. He couldn't wait to get home.

"Why?" Pete asked confused, then stopped short, "Again?" he added even more confused. Wilbur was annoyed. He knew that Pete really wanted to find out what had happened yesterday, and how Wilbur had managed to get into trouble again, but he absolutely wasn't in the mood to tell him. Right when Pete opened his mouth to ask him about yesterday, the school bus was ready to leave. Pete jerked around.

"All right, see you on Monday!" Pete called out, then ran to catch the bus, leaving behind a completely unnerved Wilbur.

Annoyed, Wilbur got on his bike. Now he had to go all the way home, all alone. How should he stay awake then? And only because he had to sleep a little longer in the morning so that he had missed the bus.

And Violet hadn't payed much attention to him since the lunch break. She had hung out with this Liz-girl all day long. And now she had left without even saying goodbye to him. One more reason to be in a bad mood.

Meanwhile, outside the school a dark sedan car was already waiting for Liz, when she came together with Violet out of the school. The driver was standing outside and waved to the girls when he saw them.

"Hi Marc-o!" Liz greeted the driver robot, who politely took off his hat before the two girls.

"Hello Miss Beckett," he greeted back, "Shall I drop your friend somewhere?"

"Good idea! We can drive you home!" Liz exclaimed happily.

"No thanks, but maybe next time!" Violet replied.

The two girls said goodbye. Marc-o, the robot chauffeur, opened the door of the sedan car for Liz, then he got in too and a few moments later the vehicle flew off.

Right after the sedan had started its engines, Violet ran to the other end of the schoolyard, where Wilbur was just about to drive off with his bike.

"Hey, Wilbur! Wait for me!"

When he heard Violet's voice, all the frustration was suddenly forgotten for some reason. Wilbur stopped and turned to her.

"What are you doing here? I thought you took the bus"

"Oh no, I thought I keep you some company," Violet grinned, a little out of breath from running. Then she threw a skeptical glance at his bicycle.

"This is your bike?" She asked incredulously.

"Yes ... why?" he asked, confused. Violet shrugged and made a disappointed face.

"Something wrong with it?" Wilbur asked.

"No, no ... it's just... it looks so normal ..."

"What did you expect?"

"Well ... can it fly?"

"No! It is a bike!" Wilbur said firmly.

"But the cars fly too!" Vi defended, "Does it have any other cool features ..."

"Cool features ...?" Wilbur repeated incredulously, "Well, it has brakes and wheels and a bell ..." he continued and pressed the bell, then shook his head, "What do you expect? It is a bike! And now don't say, my bike is boring!"

Together they made their way until they reached one of the moving sidewalks. It took them in on a pretty high level through the city while they were talking about this and that. Wilbur told her about how angry Pete was about that he wasn't able to find out what had happened yesterday, and Vi told him about her encounter with Liz.

"You owe me something by the way!" Wilbur began abruptly.

"... what for?" Violet asked uncertainly.

"Well, just because of you I will pass on the Captain Future Marathon!" Wilbur explained.

"No need to, I don't mind if you do it ..." Violet said with a wave.

"No... do you know when your parents let you decide on the punishment yourself?"

"Oh man..." Violet sighed, "The 'grow-up-and-act-responsible'-method ... yes, I know that one"

"Well, I'll pass on this marathon. And therefore you owe me something! I'd say, doing my homework for one month should - "

"No way! What is this Captain Future at all?" Violet interrupted. Wilbur then gave her a glance, as if he wanted to jump into her face. But he controlled himself, grinned and put his hand on Violet's shoulder.

"You're lucky that you are from the past, otherwise I would give you a telling-off now," he said, "Captain Future is the TV series of the millennium!" he suddenly exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Aaaah... yes." Violet said, not even pretending to be excited.

The rest of the time Violet had to listen about the entire plot of the first 6 seasons... So, just for the fun of it, she interrupted Wilbur all the time, to point out that she had accomplished all of Captain Futures heroic deeds already herself, after all she was a super hero - a real one!

"Well, did you jump from a flying air plane?"

"Even a flying and exploding air plane!" Violet replied triumphantly.

"Okay, young lady, what about - wait, you already did a time travel -" Wilbur corrected himself.

"Yep, just yesterday!" Violet grinned.

"Whatever ..." Wilbur said slightly irritable, "Anyway, Captain Future is the coolest." he continued without looking at her.

"I don't think he's cooler than me!" Violet said with a grin. Thereupon Wilbur couldn't hold back a grin either.

When they had left the center of the city and the moving sidewalks behind them, they took turns with cycling. Wilbur went first, while Violet was sitting on the carrier. Somehow she had the desire to annoy Wilbur, so she amused herself by shifting her weight from left to right all the time, so that Wilbur had no choice but to drive in a wiggly line.

"Vi, stop it!" Wilbur complained, but it didn't sound very angry, because he was laughing so much.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Violet cried innocently, while she shifted her weight to the right side at the same time, so that the bike almost fell over. Wilbur stopped; he was laughing so hard that he couldn't drive anyway.

"Wilbur, learn how to ride a bike!" she complained.

"That's it!" said Wilbur and dismounted, "You drive now!"

"Nooooo!" Violet moaned.

"Your own fault!"

So they changed places. But instead of bringing the bike out of balance, like Violet before, Wilbur based his feet on the floor all the time to slow the bike, so that Violet really had some effort to set the bike in motion at all.

You can probably imagine that the way home took them much longer this way than usual, but that didn't matter to them. The two did a lot of nonsense and caught a few puzzled looks from the other pedestrians, but they didn't care. They had a great time and laughed so much until they their bellies hurt.

When they arrived at Dash's house, Violet discovered a familiar black vehicle.

"My parents are back!" she cried enthusiastically and got off the bike.

"Shh ..." interrupted Wilbur, "You mean your grandparents ..."

"Yes, exactly ... My grandparents," Violet corrected herself, remembering in her new identity, and looked around to make sure that no one had heard her. Then she clapped her hands excitedly.

"Take care! See you on Monday!" she cried, and immediately ran into the house

"Bye!" Wilbur replied softly, still laughing. This girl was just crazy. When she had disappeared in the house, he climbed back on his bike and went home.

On the way, he wondered if and how he would ever get this grin off his face again.

He felt so lighthearted as never before! The fatigue was gone, just like all his sorrows from the last days, and he would get a sibling soon too. Now everything was just how it should be ... he was confident and could hardly wait for the future ...

Because one thing was clear ...

... THIS was just the beginning.

~ THE END ~


	51. Epilogue

Engines, shouts, cracking noises.

Someone tried to enter. They would need a while to get past the lasers and through barricades though. But his security measures wouldn't hold up the police forever.

Why did they even know of his hiding place?

Someone must have betrayed him, but who? He had never told anyone about his venture - there was not a single person who knew about it... apart from Alpha, but he doubted that he was able to betray him - he was just an empty shell.

However the police found the information, he had very little time. His hands flew over the keyboard while he made the necessary modifications. Actually, this experiment needed much more time and development. Pre-tests were still needed, the technology was still far from being perfect, but now had to hurry. This experiment would either succeed or he would die - however, there was no way he would get back into prison.

Meanwhile Alpha stood impassively next to him. He didn't seem to be any worried. Cobra felt, however, how he became more hectic, while the sounds of the invading police troops were getting louder. But then he stopped - it was time. All modifications were completed.

Suddenly he grabbed Alpha's the arm, dragged him roughly to an obscure machine and hastily attached electrodes on the clone's temples. Then he positioned himself on the other side of the machine and did the same with himself, while the shouts of the approaching troops were getting closer.

Hounded, Cobra reached for the lever, that activated the machine - but before he flipped the lever, he hesitated. If it didn't work, he would die now - did he really want so commit suicide?

But in case he survived, he would get to jail again ...

Then he would rather die!

Determined, he flipped the lever.

He immediately felt a buzzing rattling spreading from the electrodes on his temples, until his entire skull seemed to vibrate, it got louder and louder until it was an almost unbearable, deafening roar. He could not think clearly or feel anything else. His brain was overwhelmed and so he slid into a slight loss of consciousness.

If everything went as planned, he should wake up in Alpha's body! Then he would disappear before the cops would get him, with renewed youth and telepathic powers.

With rats and other small mammals, it had worked to transfer a living consciousness into an empty clone.

Suddenly his eyes shot open, a close, noise breaking glass had woken him - how long had he been unconscious?

Distraught, he looked around - the police weren't there yet, but their shouts could be heard in the little lab. Then Cobra finally looked at his hands - and froze in bloodcurdling horror! He was still in his old body! It didn't work! Terrified, paralyzed, he was not able to respond. Shocked, he looked around for Alpha. Now he knew where the shattering sound had come from, which had woken him -

Alpha stumbled through the lab, while he ripped off the diodes from his head, and during that he had knocked over some test tubes.

Cobra's mind was racing! He had to think of another plan, quickly! Maybe he could make sure that Alpha could stop the troops with his telepathic powers, then he had some time to flee. What did it matter if they killed his clone? Cobra would sacrifice this clone rather than himself.

But what was that? Alpha had stopped and smiled at him knowingly.

"It's amazing how easy it is to read your mind," he said suddenly. He was smiling? He showed emotions? Cobra was too confused about this side effect than about the content of his words. Only slowly he realized what had gone wrong: his mind was not transferred, but were merely copied! Alpha now had an own freewill- his will, his consciousness, his memories! Everything!

But he was still there, old and without any super powers ...

"No, no, no - that's not right!" Cobra stammered hastily, but it was clear that there was no way how he could change the situation now.

The sounds of the approaching troops came closer and closer. They would enter the lab at any moment!

Alpha - who now had Cobra's consciousness - suddenly giggled, turned around and was about to leave, while Cobra stared after him in horror. But then Alpha stopped and turned around one last time.

"You know .. it would be disastrous if you tell them about me... "

Alpha hardly had spoken these words, when a terrible fatigue overcame Cobra! His legs gave in and he fell to the floor. But before he had even touched the ground, Alpha had put him into a deep, thoughtless sleep with his telepathic powers...

Then - only a few seconds later - he ended the life of his creator - the physical life, at least, because his spirit was still living in him. It happened quick and painless. This unusual grace, he authorizes only because it concerned his own life.

When the police finally entered the underground laboratory, they only found Tenner's corpse. The diagnosis: cerebral apoplexy, commonly know as a stroke. The case attracted no particular attention, after all the worst had been prevented before it had even happened, and Tenner aka Cobra had probably taken the most terrible secrets into his grave...

But Cobra had survived. In a new body, equipped with super powers ...

But since no one knew about Alpha's existence, no one bothered to search for him.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**YAY! It's over! A big thanks to all supporters and readers for all comments during the last (more than) 2 years! I'm so grateful to all of you! I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did! Also kudos to the beta-readers, NijaRabbitLiz, Krystalstarbane, animeloveramy, Stargrlme, and inaligrimalkin!**

**Feel free to continue the story! ^^**


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